


Drink Up

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Drunken Shenanigans, Fluff and Angst, M/M, Mentions of Sheith, She pronouns for Pidge (I might have slipped up bc I'm okay with either she/they for them?), Slow Burn, Tags Are Hard, mentions of Shallura - Freeform, shower shenanigans, what are tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-06-14
Updated: 2016-12-27
Packaged: 2018-07-15 02:03:26
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 11
Words: 25,402
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7201712
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lance has a crush on an alien girl. Keith plays wing-man but gets roped into some stuff. And that's how it starts.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. One

**Author's Note:**

> Don't accept drinks from alien races.

_Well shit_ , Lance thought to himself as Keith’s body was pressed hard against his own. _How the hell did I get roped into this one?_

Thinking back, Lance couldn't really remember much going wrong, aside from the part where Keith playing wing-man had gone down _horribly_. Okay, so maybe he could think of what went wrong. The guy had first made out with the chick _Lance_ was crushing on and now this! What the hell was wrong with him today?

Keith had been fine earlier that morning, he'd been his normal grumpy self and no one had thought anything was wrong. During the team’s fight against the Galra, he'd still seemed fine. Maybe his teasing had died down a bit but Lance had attributed that to how dire the situation had been. God knew Lance hadn't been as careless as usual.

But this...this was completely out of the blue.

Unknowing of how to handle the situation, Lance began to push away but Keith only pushed back harder. Taken aback, Lance parted his lips a bit which was the last thing he needed right now. Keith gained entrance through the small opening and Lance was prepared to throw him away but he couldn't bring himself to. Instead, he felt a sweetness overload his senses. Wanting more of the sweet taste, Lance found his lips working against Keith’s, he found him pulling Keith’s body closer to his.

A warm feeling spread through Lance's body as he moved his lips fervently against his comrade's. He'd never felt such an overwhelming sensation in his entire life. Was kissing supposed to feel like this?

_Oh God, why does Keith taste so good?_

Lance’s own thoughts startled him which was just what he needed to snap him from his trance. He pushed Keith away, this time his efforts a success. He stared at the darker haired boy, his eyes wide and face surely flushed if the heat in his ears was any indicator. 

“W-what the hell man?” was all the flustered teen could manage as he lifted himself off of the bed’s headboard. 

Keith’s eyes widened as he backed away. It was as if he was only now realizing what had happened. He must've been processing everything because he didn't say anything, he just sat on the edge of Lance’s bed uncomfortably. Their breathing was the only thing to be heard in the quiet room and the silence was unwanted. All it did was allow Lance to replay what had just happened, to make some sense of it all. 

Before now, everything had been going so well.

Team Voltron's recent fight had happened on a planet called ‘Ciara’. The Ciarans were a peaceful people and the Galra had taken advantage of that. The Ciarans had lived in grand cities and thrown extravagant festivals but the Galra Empire had taken that from them. They'd made the cities their base and forced the natives to house in close quarters. They'd enslaved an entire planet which was seeming to become a common theme across the universe. Lucky for the Ciarans, the team was passing by when they got a lead on Pidge's family. They'd come in hoping to rescue them and while their efforts weren't in vain, the team would be returning to the castle empty handed. When the Ciarans offered to throw the team a victory party as thanks for their freedom, Allura had insisted they attend. Lance was now wishing he’d stayed in the castle.

“She is so pretty,” Lance sighed, his eyes locked on his current crush. 

“Yeah, if you like blue girls with large antennas.”

“Common man! Help a bro out?” Lance had pleaded to Keith. 

“Can't you flirt with Marlaka yourself?” Had been Keith’s disinterested reply.

“You were around her the most today! Can't you like, I don't know, test the waters for me?”

“You're unbelievable.”

Keith didn't seem like he was budging so Lance decided it was time to pull out the big guns; his signature pout. Usually said pout never worked on anyone (more often than not it rewarded him with a knock to the head) but Lance had found Keith was a sucker for it. Somewhere under that serious ‘all work and no play’ front, Keith had a soft spot.

“Ugh, fine!” Keith relented earning a small fist pump from Lance. “But you owe me.”

“Yeah, yeah. Less chit chat," Lance waved.

The pair made their way over towards Marlaka. Lance’s stride was long and overly exaggerated while Keith silently lead the way. 

“Marlaka,” Keith started as he grabbed the alien woman’s attention. 

“Keith!” she answered in surprise. “Are you enjoying the festivities?”

“Yeah everything’s great," with that the exchange came to an abrupt and awkward halt. Lance cleared his throat in an attempt to remind Keith what the current objective was. 

“Oh right,” Keith said quietly. “You met Lance, right?” Keith asked as he gestured to his comrade. 

“Yes I believe so. It was a brief meeting, however. You're the pilot of the blue lion, correct?”

Lance lit up when her singsong voice spoke to him. “Yup, that's me,” was all he could conjure. He hadn't been able to come up of any good pickup lines then or even now.

“Thank you for your bravery,” she bowed slightly. “My people truly do appreciate it.”

The there was a spark and Lance turned on the charm, “not as much as I appreciate you, baby,” he winked. Lance was still patting himself on the back for that one. His delivery had been flawless. 

Unfortunately for Lance, his charm was lost on the Ciaran because her attention had turned back to _Keith_. Keith of all people! What did that mullet have that he didn't? Must've been his reservation and mysterious past. Chicks dig mystery guys, maybe Lance should save that for the next girl Keith tries to hit on.

Lance’s head had still been stuck on Marlaka though, so when she'd asked to show Keith something and the two excused themselves, Lance was reeling. 

He mouthed a ‘dude what the heck?’ but Keith merely shrugged as he was led away. Lance had hoped Keith would try to talk him up a bit but now he knew that hadn't happened. Honestly, Lance wished his curiosity hadn't gotten the better of him. He'd do anything to get the mental picture of Keith and Marlaka out of his head. 

The two were in the garden. The sun had set and the bio-luminescent plants had lit up in pretty purples, blues, and greens. Little blue specks floated through the night air as the two made out and Lance watched in shock. Keith had one arm wrapped around the alien pulling her in close, his other was holding a silver cup which he soon discarded to pull Marlaka closer. It was about when Lance could hear the two’s panting that he said something. 

“K-Keith?” his voice had come out shakier than he'd hoped but at least the two had stopped sucking face. 

Mullet head’s eyes widened dramatically, _who was the drama queen now huh?_ Lance had thought pointedly as Keith pushed Marlaka away from him. His mouth opened slightly but Lance didn't want to hear whatever his excuse was. If he went home to sleep he'd be over his butt hurt in the morning so he'd turned and left. He'd sealed himself in his room and hit the pillow. He hadn't known that Keith was following him, however. 

Lance didn't know what he was expecting, maybe that Keith and Marlaka would continue where they'd left off or something. But when he heard a knock on his door, he was a bit happy. Keith had chosen him over Marlaka. 

“Lance? Are you in there?” called Keith’s muffled voice.

He didn't respond. He couldn't very well admit he was relieved that Keith and Marlaka weren't getting it on.

“Come on man. Open up so I can explain myself. I know it looks bad but it's not what you think.”

“Not what I think?” Lance snorted, “so what? I didn't see you and the chick I was into making out?” he knew he wasn't as upset as he put off. Lance was always flirting with girls. In fact, had he not told Keith about his crush he doubted he'd care at all. It was the fact that he'd told Keith and he'd still kissed her that rubbed him the wrong way.

“Look, just please let me talk?” Keith’s voice held a hint of sadness in it which Lance would've normally been proud of but he wanted to hear what he had to say. If he came clean and told him the truth...maybe he could forgive him. 

He opened the door. Keith looked up to Lance suddenly and he let out a sigh of relief. Too tired to stand, Lance retreated back into his room and sat on his bed, hands rubbing his face. 

“Go on,” he said quietly. 

Keith let out a nervous breath before starting. “So I know you asked me to be your wing-man and everything so I get why you're mad. That was a completely douchey thing for me to do.”

Well at least they agreed on something. 

“But she gave me this drink thing. She told me it was just like the stuff being served at the party just fresher ya know? I was skeptical at first but I didn't know how else to handle the situation.”

“So your first idea is to _drink_ it?” Lance asked incredulously. 

“I know, it was stupid of me," Kieth explained quickly, "anyways, it was really sweet. It like...overloaded my senses or whatever. I didn't even realize I was kissing her till you said something,” he finished. 

“You seemed to be enjoying that kiss an awful lot,” he sighed, not really wanting to fight anymore. 

“Cause...it was sweet?”

Lance didn't say anything for a while. He had wanted Keith to sweat nervously, to wonder if they're relationship was still intact but there was never a doubt in Lance’s mind. He knew Keith was telling the truth, or at least he had to believe he was. If he didn't let this conflict rest, the team would suffer and that meant it would be even longer before he got to return home to Earth. 

“Do you hate me?” Keith asked suddenly. 

This grabbed Lance’s attention and his head shot up, “no I don't hate you. I get it and I'm not mad. My pride’s just stung a bit, that's all.” He tried to smirk to lighten the mood but Keith only stared at him with his oh so serious expression.

“Keith, you okay?” Lance asked, a bit unnerved by the darkening stare. Keith began to come towards him ever so slowly, his eyes looking more and more hooded by the second. “You okay man? Y-you look a little sick.”

Still no response.

“C-come on Keith! Y-you're freaking me out!” That's all it took. Suddenly Keith’s lips were on his and he was pinned to the back of the headboard.

So Lance was all caught up. His mind had fully processed the event and the events that led up to it. He could only assume Keith had tasted so sweet because of the drink he'd mentioned Marlaka giving him. That must've been what was in the silver cup Keith had thrown to the ground. If what he said was true, that had to be why Lance had kissed him back.

Then it hit him, _I kissed Keith **back**._

Drink or no drink it was all the same. Lance had just made out in his bedroom with _Keith_ , his former rival and now Galra fighting teammate. Surely Keith had noticed the other teen had reciprocated the supposedly drink-induced actions. But what if he hadn't kissed Keith back because of the remnants of some drink? What if he'd kissed Keith back because he was _enjoying_ it? Either way, Keith probably hated Lance now or at least thought he was a major pervert.

“I...I uh…” Lance stuttered. 

“Lance?” Keith asked quietly, staring at the wall across from them. Lance couldn't tell if Keith was blushing. Maybe the drink had made him drunk? 

“Y-yeah?”

“Did you...did we..?”

Lance only nodded as Keith looked back to him. 

“Well shit.”


	2. Two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things are awkward after the kiss. After an encounter in the showers and scouting on an alien planet, the boys finally talk about it.

“Ugh, shut up,” Lance drawled as he turned off the high-pitched alarm. It was about seven AM Altean time, which was too early to be up and about in Lance’s opinion, but Allura had been persistent that this was the latest they could be up and moving. Lance liked to milk his time for all it was worth.

Sluggishly, the lanky teen pulled himself out from underneath the covers. His feet found his blue lion slippers and he made his way over to the tiny bathroom in the corner. The lights flicked on brightly causing Lance to squint as his eyes adjusted. The bathroom was a pristine white with a very alien looking toilet and a sink. The only thing that was missing was a shower. For the Alteans showering was communal, something Lance really had never minded until the events of the night before. 

He was going to have to see a naked Keith on a regular basis.

Groaning, Lance splashed cold water in his face. He wanted to forget last night as much as possible. Keith had left not soon after realizing what had happened but they hadn’t really discussed the issue much if at all. Lance had just been left to stand in his room dumbfounded. Needless to say, last night sleep hadn’t come easy. The bags underneath his eyes were proof of that.

This morning, Lance’s hair had decided that sticking up in every angle imaginable would be acceptable and he was having a hard time taming it. _Great_ , he thought. _Just what I needed: bedhead_. He shook his head and brushed his teeth before grabbing his robe and heading down the hall towards the showers.

The showers wouldn’t be so bad if they were like all the locker rooms he was used to. At least on Earth they had stalls with doors or curtains but on the ship that wasn’t the case. The showers were separated into two rooms; one had cubbies and seating and the other held the actual showers. In there the only objects were odd-shaped shower-heads and drains, this meant everyone had a great view of everything that went down. Which of course wouldn’t normally be a problem if he didn’t have a kissing history with one of his teammates.

Hopeful that he’d have the showers to himself, Lance set his things in a cubby and grabbed a towel. When he entered, the room was steamy and he could hear water running. It most likely wasn’t Shiro since he got up way before Lance and there was no way it was Pidge. She’d always taken showers at odd times, he now of course knew why. There were only two possibilities seeing as both Allura and Coran had their own private showers. It was either Hunk or Keith.

Lance was hoping it was the former.

Of course, luck wasn’t on his side as he saw the long haired boy turn to look at him. He turned away quickly and Lance did the same. This was going to quite possibly be the most awkward shower of his entire life.

He chose a shower facing opposite of Keith. At least this way he wouldn’t have to look at him. _Just focus on showering_ , he told himself as he took a few deep breaths. If only he could scream.

It only took about five minutes before Lance couldn’t take it anymore. He turned the water off and spun around ready to make his escape only to find Keith had exited the shower himself. Except...his eyes weren’t focused on his face but rather something a bit lower.

Lance felt like he was going to combust.

Keith’s eyes darted upwards and grew wide. Neither boy said anything to the other. Whether it was an accident or on purpose Keith had just seen Lance’s junk. Normally it wouldn’t have been awkward but seeing as the two had been kissing the night before Lance was internally freaking out.

 _HOLY SHIT_ , was all he could think before Keith turned away and exited briskly. Unfortunately, he hadn’t been fast enough and Lance got a look at his ass. _Kill me now._

Lance stood and waited for a moment not wanting to walk out and spend more time in the same room as Keith. After standing in the steamy room for what seemed like a long enough time, Lance went to his cubby, got dressed, and hurried out of there. By the time he had suited up and made his way down to the Command Deck, he was late.

“Can’t you get here on time at least once?” Allura asked in frustration.

“What can I say Princess?” Lance said as he tried to shrug his jitters away, “I find you absolutely _alluring_ when you’re like this.”

In the corner, Lance could hear Hunk stifling a laugh as he helped Pidge with something. At least he was funny sometimes. Allura shot him a disapproving glance before heading towards the controls.

“That’s everyone,” Coran announced. Lance scanned the room and saw Shiro standing with his arms crossed. Hunk and Pidge were making their way towards the center of the room and Keith was leaned up against the wall his face red and turned away from him. Lance couldn’t help but blush.

“So, today’s mission for today,” the Princess started, “we’re running a bit low on supplies. There’s a nearby planet that should offer what we need but we have no idea if it’s under Galra influence. That’s why we need to survey the area. Pidge, you look at their radio transmissions. See if you can pick anything up we were unable to. Shiro, you and Hunk will scout the west side of the area we’re landing in while Lance and Keith take the east.”

Today was seriously not Lance’s day.

Allura finished explaining what the team should expect to find down on the planet’s surface but Lance wasn’t paying much attention. He was too busy thinking about how he was going to manage working with Keith after the events that had unfolded last night and this morning. There was no way he was going to be able to look him in the eye.

They’d been told to leave their lions here in the castle just in case they ran into any hostile combatants. No one wanted to risk losing even one of the lions, not to mention possibly all four. Keith and Lance made their way to their pod while Shiro and Hunk went to theirs. Keith took the pilot seat and although Lance would’ve normally argued, he didn’t figure now was a good time.

As the team descended, Lance could hear Shiro and Hunk talking over the headset but he and Keith remained silent in their pod. Keith’s eyes were focused on the sky ahead of him. His brow was narrowed and gleaming with sweat.

When they reached the planet’s crust, Keith jerked the pod to a halt. If it hadn’t been for his seat belt Lance would’ve went flying forward. Still, he refrained from making a comment. Instead he just opted for a groan of displeasure. Keith didn’t pay him any attention. Instead, the teen swung out of the pod and Lance had to scramble to keep up with him.

“Keith, Lance, are you on the ground?” asked Shiro’s voice through the communicator.

“Yeah,” was Keith’s quick response.

“Alright, let us know if you spot anything unusual.”

“I can tell ya a few things,” Lance muttered to himself. They were on an alien planet with tall, twisting trees that seemed to have tufts of hair on their tops instead of leaves. There was nothing more unusual than that.

The two made their way through the trees, Keith refusing to turn around while Lance grumbled and complained. Then something stung Lance and he let out a slew of curses. Shiro asked if everything was okay but Keith spun around angrily.

“Can you shut up for maybe five minutes?”

“Hey! I think I’ve done a pretty good damn job staying out of your mane today,” Lance retorted.

Keith rolled his eyes and turned back around. The two continued their trek and this time Lance vowed to stay completely silent. He didn’t want Keith hating him after they’d made so much progress over the past few weeks even though he was pretty sure last night had set everything ablaze. Although Lance would never say it to the Paladin's face, he was growing quite fond of their friendship. But the feat of complete silence was proving harder than he’d anticipated. The game was lost when Lance was stung once more and then again, and again.

Suddenly, Keith flinched. “Shit!”

“Something wrong?” Lance asked, his face long and unamused. 

“I think something stung me.”

“Now you know why I’ve been-AH!” Lance’s neck was stung yet again. He looked down to see black dots speckling his usually white armor. Looking at Keith, he saw the same thing. “Keith, why are these here?”

Keith looked to his suit and then Lance. “ _Run_ ,” was all he said before he grabbed Lance’s wrist and the two took off.

“Guys,” came Shiro’s voice, “get to shelter. The rain here is acidic.”

“YEAH WE FIGURED THAT OUT, THANKS!” Lance yelled as Keith dragged him on faster and faster. The rain was nipping at Lance's heels and he didn't know how much longer they could outrun it.

“There!” Keith called as he pointed to a cave about ten feet ahead of them. They were barely inside when the rain was pouring down outside.

Lance was bent over trying to catch his breath when Keith’s hand gripped his arm. “Come on, we need to move in a bit further,” he said quietly as he pointed to the steaming rain that was seeping its way in through the entrance. Lance didn’t argue as the two moved deeper and deeper into the darkening cave.

Keith pulled out a red orb and Lance did the same with his blue one. The walls around them illuminated and Lance noticed they were walking upwards along a steep incline.

“The walls are too smooth to be natural,” Keith examined, “but, whoever made this place was smart enough to make an incline. The rain can’t get us in here.”

Relieved they'd be safe from the rain, Lance plopped down on the ground and rested his head against the damp cave wall.

“What are you doing?” Keith asked in bewilderment.

“We were just attacked by acid rain!” Lance yelled as he pointed both his arms towards where they’d come in from. 

“We have a mission-”

“Dah, dah, dah!” Lance hushed him, “we can’t do anything else until that killer rain subsides.” 

Keith eyed Lance for a moment before finally taking a seat against the wall across from him. He took his helmet off and laid it down next to him. Seeing as there wasn't much else to do, Lance figured now was as good a time as any to discuss just what had happened last night.

“Sorry...about last night,” he grumbled awkwardly.

“What are you apologizing for?” Keith asked incredulously. “ _I’m_ the one who should apologize to _you_.”

“Why? It’s not like it was your fault. It was that drink right?”

Keith nodded slowly, “still. That doesn’t explain why you’re apologizing.”

“Well…” suddenly all his courage was fading, “I kinda kissed you back," his voice was soft. He could barely hear it, much less Keith.

“I couldn’t understand a word you just said.”

Lance closed his eyes in frustration. His heart was pounding and his ears were getting warm as he replayed last night’s events. He wasn’t even going to mention everything that had happened that morning.

“Lance?” Keith asked again.

“I...I kinda kissed you back!” he finally admitted. Keith’s eyes grew wide but that wasn’t what Lance was focused on. The entire team had just collectively screamed in his ear. His helmet. The communicator. _It was still on_.

“FUCK!” Lance ripped his helmet off and tossed it on the ground. If he wasn’t blushing before he sure as hell was blushing now. Keith still had yet to respond but at least he wasn’t gaping at him anymore.

“That’s why I wanted to apologize,” Lance finished as he averted his eyes from him and scratched his chin.

It appeared as though Keith was about to respond when an earsplitting roar ricocheted throughout the cave. Lance reached for his helmet and pulled it on. The two Paladins were up on their feet, shields out and ready. Keith stepped in front of Lance, his sword drawn as the two waited for whatever creature had emitted the shriek to emerge. Slowly, silvery scales made their way into the light of the orbs and the two took a step backwards.

“Is that a _dragon_?!” Lance called in disbelief. He didn’t know whether to be in awe or in fear. “Think he’s friendly?”

The dragon’s jaws snapped towards the two Paladins but Keith ripped Lance backwards and began running.

“ _Definitely_ hostile.”

“Lance? Keith? What’s going on?” asked Shiro.

“Yeah, did you say ‘dragon’?” Hunk added fearfully.

“Keith, before we die,” Lance panted as the two continued to run back towards the entrance to the cave, “just know that I’ve never really hated you.”

“We’re not gonna die!”

“You sure about that?!” the two were at the end of the line. One step more and they’d be outside in the acidic rain. It was bad enough that they were standing in a puddle of the stuff, their boots steaming as the liquid ate away at them.

“GET OUT YOUR GUN!” Keith yelled a bit confused as to why Lance hadn’t made a move for it yet.

“Oh yeah,” Lance mentally kicked himself and pulled his bayard out. He began to blast at the creature but it only kept surging forward, screaming as it went. “It’s not doing anything!” he warned as he looked to Keith for some sort of plan. The other Paladin didn’t say anything and charged forward, his sword swinging. 

His sword was about to make contact when a woman’s voice cried out. There was a flash of light and Keith was knocked backwards. The woman appeared next to dragon. Her skin was charcoal and appeared scaley. The dragon calmed under her touch and Keith scrambled to stand.

“Who are you?” Keith questioned but Lance was ready to make his move.

“Hey,” he said as flirtatiously as possible, “you have a name or can I call you mine?” he took the alien girl’s hand in his and was about to press a kiss to her hand when Keith ripped his hand out of hers. The dragon growled in disapproval.

The woman replied in a language neither Keith nor Lance could understand. Lance would’ve made another attempt to flirt with the woman but he felt a warmth still encompassing his hand. Quickly, Lance ripped his hand from Keith’s and his blush returned. The woman looked down at their now separated hands and raised a brow.

“Th-that wasn’t what you think!” Lance explained while Keith just looked him like he’d grown five heads.

“What you two kiss again?” came Pidge’s sly voice through the communicator.

“Sh-shut up!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WOOOO I wrote another chapter. I'm going on vacation tomorrow and I plan on getting a crap ton of writing done ;)  
> Thanks for the kudos and comments! I'm really glad you guys are enjoying this!


	3. Three

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Assuming they got stuck together after the wormhole collapsed...

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was extremely difficult to write. I scrapped my first idea that had them entering a relationship but then decided it was moving a bit to fast SO I rewrote everything. For this chapter I decided I would work on character motivation and whatnot since this fic is gonna start developing plot here soon. Sorry if it's a bit boring but I don't wanna just throw them into a relationship or something (don't worry, the next chapter is hella gay)
> 
> -Also, McClain is Lance's last name in the original series I believe so I used that. If it's wrong lemme know.

“This is _not_ happening,” Lance shouted in annoyance as the plan began to fall apart. Everything had been going south the last few weeks and now things had hick rock bottom. The situation was tense to say the very least. After hacking into the Galra ship’s cargo bay, Lance and Pidge had covered Hunk till he’d emerged safely with the Princess. Now they were focusing on defending the castle from the Galran fighter crafts.

“Come on, _come on_!” he heard Keith yell over the intercom. He’d been stupid enough to take on Zarkon one on one despite Coran’s protests. If Lance knew Keith at all, he knew that the Altean's protests had only managed to spur the impulsive Paladin on. That’s one thing the two actually had in common, their impulsiveness and stubbornness got them into a lot of trouble.

There was an explosion on the surface of the Galran ship which was followed by Shiro saying something Lance couldn't really make out. Moments later, the black lion returned to the castle carrying the red lion.

Princess Allura came over the communication system then and alerted everyone that they were leaving but there was still one problem; there was no wormhole. Coran said it was because the Galra were jamming their systems and everyone grew tense. If they couldn't warp out of here, they'd have to stay and fight. With a damaged lion, there'd be no transforming into Voltron and they'd be royally screwed.

If they couldn’t open the wormhole and soon, Zarkon was going to win.

Galra ships were surrounding the castle when suddenly, the barrier that had been jamming the wormhole collapsed. Although confused and unknowing of just who or what had aided them, the team agreed that opening the wormhole was their only option. Trick or no trick, running was the only thing that wouldn't result in them all getting killed. Once the wormhole opened up, Lance relaxed a bit. If they just made it through the team would be safe.

The castle had just entered the wormhole when a streak of purple energy surged through the walls of the wormhole. Everything began to shake and Lance found himself having to use all his force in order to keep his lion grounded.

“Coran what’s happening?” Shiro asked as purple streaks flowed through the wormhole.

“The integrity of the wormhole has been compromised!” Coran yelled frantically, “it’s breaking down!”

Terrified, Lance shouted, “What does that mean?!”

“It means we have no control over where we’re headed!”

That was definitely not the answer Lance had been hoping for.

Lance fired his lion’s blasters as he tried to fight the gravitational pull of the destabilizing wormhole but it was no use. The pull was too strong and Lance lost control of his lion. One by one out the lion’s flew. Lance tried to regain control of his lion but he couldn’t get a firm grip on the controls. Alert after alert popped up into his vision as his lion tried to let him know just what was happening but in the midst of all this chaos, he couldn't focus. All he knew was that he needed to figure a way out this and soon..

The shaking only intensified as his lion spun out of control. Red lights flashed and alarms blared but Lance couldn’t make any sense of it. When his teammates voices fuzzed out, the shaking came to a halt. Slowly opening his eyes, he found himself face to face with darkness.

“G-guys?” he asked quietly as he cleared the alerts from his dash. 

There was no reply. 

“Okay…” Lance breathed, “no need to panic. You’ll hear from them soon. They’re probably still in the wormhole.” 

Another alert popped up on his dash. Lance couldn’t read what it said, but it was similar to those that had appeared when the wormhole had been compromised. In fact, the cabin was beginning to heat up and he could see fire licking the sides of his lion’s vision. Regaining control of his lion, he spun around to see a large, red planet below him. He was stuck in the gravitational pull of this monster.

Lance figured he had two options; one, stay out here in space and run the risk of a Galra ship finding him, or two, land on the planet and run the risk of it being inhabited by the Galra.

Deciding the second option might be a bit better, Lance brought his lion down gently on the red sand that covered the planet’s crust. The sky was a vivid lilac brightened by two large suns. Automatically, his lion ran an air check and told him that the consistency of the planet’s air wasn’t breathable. There was barely any oxygen and to top it off, the air was about 150 degrees, far to hot for a human.

“Great,” he groaned as he fell backwards in his chair. “Now what am I supposed to do?”

In the corner of his vision, he saw a fireball entering the planet’s atmosphere. Hoping that said object was another lion, Lance decided to go investigate. The burning object was coming in fast, however, and if it didn’t pull up soon, it was going to crash. The long Lance watched it, the more he saw that it didn’t appear to be slowing down in the slightest. Instead, it seemed to only be building up speed and Lance had to pull back so he wouldn’t be caught in the impact zone.

Once the dust settled from the crash, Lance was able to make out that the craft was in fact the red lion. After attempting to get a hold of Keith for a solid five minutes, Lance began to panic. He knew that Keith’s lion had been damaged, otherwise why would Shiro have had to carry him back to the castle?

His body moved on it’s own as he switched his helmet into space mode. He ran out into the sweltering heat and found that the gravity here was crushing, almost twice as strong as it was on Earth. Lance moved as fast as he could but extra gravity paired with thick sand proved to make movement challenging. Even though it felt as though someone had tied bricks to his feet, Lance knew he couldn’t quit. He had to get to Keith, he had to know he was okay.

“Keith!” Lance called again and again, hoping that the Paladin would respond but he heard nothing. He was growing frantic when finally the red lion’s mouth opened up and out stumble Keith.

“Keith!” Lance called as he fumbled awkwardly over to his side.

“Lance,” he answered weakly as Lance offered him support.

“What happened? Are you okay?”

“Yeah I’m fine,” Keith said as he brushed Lance off him, “but my lion sustained a lot of damage. She’s pretty mad at me,” Keith shrugged sheepishly as the red force field formed around his lion.

“I don’t blame her,” Lance rolled his eyes, “I thought you were a better pilot, guess not.”

“It wasn’t my fault!” Keith protested. “It happened when I was fighting Zarkon!”

“You’re the one who took him on against Coran’s recommendation. It’s kinda your fault.”

Keith made a face but didn’t engage, “let’s just get to your lion and see if we can’t contact someone.”

The two made their way inside the blue lion and Lance got to work sending out a distress signal to the castle. When he’d finished, Lance went to check on Keith who was more injured than he’d let on. With a huge welt on the side of his head, there was a possibility he had a concussion.

“How’s your lion?” Keith asked as Lance sat down on the floor next to him.

“A few systems are damaged. It looks like communications are completely shot so we're on our own.”

“Fantastic,” Keith spat sharply.

“At least I _landed_ my lion,” Lance sneered. Despite how tense things had been between the two in recent weeks, he was pretty happy to have Keith’s company. Although he wasn’t the first person he would’ve wanted to get marooned with, at least he had something to keep him from completely losing his mind.

“How are you handling all this?”

Lance turned to Keith who was staring blankly at his feet. He obviously wasn’t dealing with all of this too well but Lance couldn't really blame him.

“I don’t know to be honest. You?”

Keith shook his head and scowled, “it’s my fault.”

“Yes. You crashed your lion.”

“If only I’d been stronger. I could’ve _ended_ all this.”

Finally Lance gathered what Keith was talking about. He was blaming himself for not defeating Zarkon, for the wormhole destabilizing and the team getting separated. Not knowing what else to do, Lance placed his hand on the other Paladin’s shoulder and gave him a reassuring smile. 

“You can’t blame yourself for not beating him,” he said quietly as Keith turned to face him, “together we’re practically invisible but you took Zarkon on all by yourself. Can you imagine what we could’ve accomplished had we formed Voltron? We could’ve kicked his ass!”

Keith let out a small chuckle then added with resolve, “we’ll get him next time then.”

“So, what do we do now?”

“I guess we should just stay put. I don’t want to leave my lion out here alone and they’ll pick up our signal eventually. Until then, you’ve got emergency supplies, right?”

“Huh?”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Keith pushed himself up off the ground and disappeared for a moment. When he returned, he carried with him a single blanket and a few food packs.

“Woah! Where did you get those?” Lance asked excitedly.

“Allura stocked the lions in case there was an emergency. Maybe if you woke up on time you’d know that.”

Lance only shrugged as the other Paladin sunk back down next to him.

The two agreed to take shifts watching for a message from the castle or other members of the team that night. Since it was his lion, Lance was on first watch. As the night dragged on, Lance found it harder and harder to focus. He was bored out of his mind and he needed something to do.

“Lance?”

A bit startled, Lance spun in his chair to eye the boy that was lying on the floor, “yeah Keith?”

“I have a question.”

“And I have an answer.”

Keith made a sound of annoyance and rolled over on his side, “never mind.”

“Sorry, I had to. What’s up?”

The other Paladin didn’t turn back to face him and for a moment Lance almost thought that he wasn’t actually going to ask. This is what he got for being a sarcastic asshole.

“Why are you apart of this team?”

“Huh?” the question was completely unexpected and Lance wasn’t sure how he should respond. What did that mean exactly?

“Shiro’s here because of what they did to him. He knows exactly what they’re capable of and he doesn’t want it to happen to anyone else. Pidge is here because she’s looking for her family, Hunk wants to protect everyone, and well...we know why Allura and Coran are fighting. I just can’t figure you out though.”

Lance looked down at his hands and thought for a moment. He couldn't see where Keith was coming from. To him, he had an obvious reason for fighting the Galra, it was similar to Hunk's. Just because he didn’t verbalize his drive didn’t mean he didn’t have one, but come to think of it, he didn’t know why Keith fought against them either. In fact, he barely knew anything about him.

“I fight because I have a family back on Earth that I want to protect," he said as a vision of them popped into his head. His mother, his father, his brothers and sisters, he was fighting for them, fighting for the other families on Earth. 

"I have friends...people who mean the world to me. At first this started off as just something super cool but then I realized how important it was. I miss Earth like crazy and I wish I could go back but I really don’t think I can, not until Zarkon is stopped."

His words hung in the air even long after he’d spoken. That was the most he'd revealed to anyone on the Voltron team, or in the Garrison even. He'd never really felt the need to discuss his private life with people considering he was always trying to keep the mood light. It was his life and not theirs so what did it matter? But now that he was opening up, he realized that perhaps this was a big fault in their relationship. Maybe that was why they'd hated each other when they first met, neither one of them was willing to open up.

That or Lance's desire to never take anything seriously had clashed a lot with Keith's brooding personality. The dude never relaxed.

“What about you? I hardly know anything about you, much less why you’re here.”

Keith turned to face Lance. His face was long and sullen, almost as if the subject hurt him to think about. Again, he was a brooding mess.

“I don’t really have a reason,” he said quietly, “I guess if I had one it would be feeling like I’m actually part of something that matters.”

“What about your family? Don’t you care about their safety, about the Earth’s safety?”

“No one on Earth ever did jackshit for me,” Keith snarled.

“Dude,” Lance pulled himself from the chair and went to sit next to Keith. He’d hit a nerve that he hadn’t known about and he didn’t really know what to do. Even after all the bonding exercises Coran and Allura had put them through, he still barely knew how to interact with Keith in a non-hostile way.

“I’m sorry I brought it up.”

“No,” he said as he sat up and waved Lance away, “don’t apologize. I’m just really bitter that’s all.”

“You wanna tell me what you’re so bitter about or..?” Lance was not good at the whole ‘offering emotional support’ thing but he figured showing Keith that he could talk to him was a good start. His friends back home had always seemed to sit and listen and if he ever wanted to consider Keith a friend he needed to make an effort.

“Not right now. Thank you though.”

“No problem.”

The two didn’t say much else and when Keith had fallen back asleep, Lance returned to his post. He felt himself dozing off, dragging himself from his chair and into Keith’s arms…the moment Keith had kissed Lance played through his mind again as his lips found Keith's. The feeling was numb, however, almost as if it wasn't happening at all. The intense feeling behind their kiss was gone, erased.

“Lance,” Keith murmured as he stirred awake. 

“Yeah?” Lance murmured back. 

“Lance!”

This time, Lance snapped awake and flung his body upwards. His head collided against Keith's and the two both let out yelps of pain.

Confused, Lance checked his surroundings. He was still in his chair. He hadn’t dragged himself into Keith’s arms or kissed him again. He'd sprawled out in his sleep. He’d been _dreaming_ about cuddling and _kissing_ Keith.

“Dammit, Lance!” Keith yelled as he pinched the bridge of his nose. 

“What?! You're the one who had your face up in my grill!” Lance hissed, _even though I’m the one who was dreaming about you._

“Because you fell asleep and we received a transmission!”

Ignoring the now pulsating headache, Lance accepted the incoming transmission and was greeted by Allura and Coran’s worried faces. 

“Thank goodness you're alright!” she exclaimed as she smiled in relief.

“Happy to see me baby?” Lance teased only to have Keith clobber his head. “OW!”

“Keith, why aren't you in your lion?” Coran asked showing no regard for Lance’s wounded pride. Damn Keith was an ass. 

“He crashed it,” Lance stated matter of factly, “ _I_ on the other hand landed flawlessly,” he threw both his feet up on the dash and rested his head in his arms as tried his best to seem cool. It didn't work. Keith merely shoved Lance onto the floor while he shouted in protest.

“Is your lion alright?” Allura was shoving her way into the camera now, her hands up to her chest in fear.

“Should be fine, just a little mad at me.”

“I don’t blame it,” Lance added as he picked himself up off the floor.

“Do you ever shut up?” she asked in annoyance.

“Nope,” Keith answered as he took Lance’s seat.

“I'm right here y’know,” Lance groaned as he slumped himself over the back of the chair.

Sighing, the Princess changed the conversation, “Coran says that there’s something you need to know so listen up.”

Allura stepped away and allowed for Coran to have center stage. He cleared his throat and straightened his posture while the little curl on the top of his head bounced. There was something about the Altean that always seemed comical, even when he was trying to be serious. Maybe it was the caterpillar on his face or his big pointy ears but Lance found keeping a straight face around him difficult, _especially_ when he was curling his mustache when talking. It was a good distraction considering what he'd just woken up from.

“Everyone is split up currently. Hunk and Pidge are together but they're way across the galaxy. Thankfully, we’re all _in_ the same universe. Shiro seems to be closer to you all but we’re having a much more difficult time pinpointing his exact location. Now, we can either go for Hunk and Pidge first or you. But here’s the trouble-”

Ah yes, there was always a catch.

“Time for you is different than it is for us, that’s why we've had such a difficult time establishing communications with you.”

“Wait, _what_?! What do you mean time is different for us?!” Lance blurted in astonishment.

“Einstein’s theory of relativity,” Keith murmured.

“Whosa what now?” Coran asked with a raise of his eyebrow.

“Nothing, just something from back home,” Keith waved, “there was a physicist who came up with this theory that time could contract and dilate based on velocity and gravity and all that. Are you saying that something like that is happening with us?”

Coran lit up to see someone know so much and Lance just stared at the Paladin his mouth agape. Lance had heard about Einstein, sure, but he wasn't aware Keith was an Einstein himself.

“Exactly!” Coran practically sang, “the planet you’re on is orbiting two suns whose masses are extremely large.Time for you is flowing differently than it is for us so if we go to rescue Pidge and Hunk first, there’s no telling how much time will pass between us.”

“Can’t you run some kinda calculation for that?” Lance suggested since he wanted to seem like he had some clue about what was going on.

“I’m running them now,” Coran confirmed rather unimpressed. “Everything is a bit slow though, the castle took some damage when we came out of the wormhole. I’ll let you know when I find out more. Until then, try not to hurt each other and keep up those bonding exercises!”

With that, the transmission ended and Keith and Lance were once again on their own.

“Alright, Einstein,” Lance huffed, “outta my seat.”

“I might as well take my shift now. You just go sleep.”

Lance wasn’t going to argue that suggestion and he shuffled over the blanket and curled up. Luckily, he fell asleep and had no dreams about Keith. Instead, he dreamt he was back on Earth with his family.

*****

The next morning, Lance was woken by an extra broody Keith. He was thrown an emergency food pack and Lance opened it to see green glob inside. If this was why he was in such a bad mood then Lance couldn’t really blame him.

Lance had slept well the rest of the night. He hadn't had anymore dreams about cuddling or kissing Keith which he was thanking his lucky stars for. He didn't need anymore gay thoughts weighing him down.

Keith was pacing while Lance ate and it was getting on his nerves. Here Lance was trying to forget about him and he was being an annoying shit. Finally, Lance had had enough of it and he set his fork down.

“I get that you’re in a pissy mood but you’re seriously freaking me out.” Keith halted and turned towards Lance, his brow furrowed and lips pursed. “Ya know, if you don’t cut that out your face is gonna get stuck that way.”

His scowl managed to get worse.

“Come on, what’s got Mr. Sunshine feeling down?”

Keith just presented him with his middle finger.

“Seriously? Why are you being extra bitchy today?”

“Gee, I don’t know! Maybe it’s the fact that we’re stranded on a planet where time is flowing differently and my lion is out of commission!”

At least he’d managed to get him to say something.

“You need to chill out,” was all the advise Lance could offer.

“You want me to chill out? Come on! I know you’re always dicking around but you can’t even take _this_ seriously?”

“I just don’t get why you’re getting so worked up over this. Allura and Coran are gonna rescue us. So what if we have to wait a few days?”

“Lance, we might not be here for just a few days,” he said grimly, “it could be weeks, months, maybe even years! For all we know, we might live out our lives here!”

Lance actually shuddered at the thought. Dying surrounded by no one but Keith? Someone shoot him now.

“Well what do you want me to do about it?”

“Help me figure something out!”

“Look,” Lance sighed as he heaved himself up off the floor, “we both know you’re the brains and I’m the one with the good looks. Coming up with the plan is your job.”

“Tch, yeah no kidding,” Keith grumbled. “Fine. Do whatever you want but I’m going to go do something that's actually productive.”

“Oh yeah? Like what?” Lance sneered as Keith threw his suit on and stormed away.

“Like fixing my damn lion so I don’t have to be left on this planet with _you_ ,” that was the last thing Lance heard before Keith turned the corner and the hatch opened.

Having some time away from the other Paladin proved to be both good and bad. For starters, it gave them space. Lance could do his thing while Keith did his. However, it also left Lance time to dwell on just what Keith was talking about. If time was different for them, it would be different on Earth. For all he knew, every second could be an hour or a day on Earth. He began to worry that maybe the longer they sat here, the quicker time might pass on Earth. For all he knew, he might never get to see his family again. What if they spent too much time on this planet and by the time they got back, everyone he’d ever known was dead? It would be something like what happened to Captain America but _worse_. Way worse.

That was something Lance couldn’t even stand to think about.

Realizing just how serious the situation was, Lance continuously tried to get in contact with the castle but by the time Keith returned, neither one of the Paladins had had much success.

The suns were setting on the second day but Lance still wasn’t stopping. He had to get into contact with the ship to see if they’d figured out just what the time difference was. If he didn’t hear from them soon, he was tempted to see if he couldn’t just carry the red lion with him into space. Though looking at the condition of his own lion, he didn’t know if it would pan out all that well.

“What’s your family like?” Keith suddenly asked, effectively interrupting Lance’s thoughts.

“We’re close,” he answered, “I’ve got four siblings, two older and two younger and a couple of cousins. People say we’re big but I’ve seen bigger.”

His answer was brief but Lance didn’t want to delve much deeper into the subject. Thinking about his family back on Earth wasn’t exactly something Lance wanted to do right now, not with the time ticking and all.

“You don’t seem too fond of them,” Keith almost sounded like he was upset.

“No, I love my family a lot. They mean the world to me, it’s just…” he trailed off.

“It’s just..?”

“I’m really freaked out right now. I’m scared I’ll never get to see them again. If what you said is true then...I don’t know. I guess it’s the same thing you’re freaking out over.”

“It’s not the same,” Keith’s words were abrupt and they seemed to bite through Lance. Had he hit yet _another_ nerve?

"Well then what are you freaking out over?"

Keith shrugged. Chewing on his cheek, Lance fished around for a way to get some answers from him.

“What’s your family like?”

Obviously, that was also a mistake. 

“Don’t have one,” his voice held an uncaring tone but everything about his body went rigid and stiff. Judging from the look in his eyes, Keith cared way more about his family situation than he let on and bringing it up had been a bad move on Lance's part. But if talking about his family situation bothered him so much why would he ask about Lance's?

“Shit. Sorry man. I had no idea.”

He just shrugged again.

_Okay McClain, how you gonna wiggle your way around this one_?

Clearing his throat, Lance made his attempt at changing the subject,"do you want me to take first watch again?”

“Sure.”

For the remainder of the night, neither Paladin spoke. Keith curled up under the blanket and fell asleep while Lance was left to sit through the boredom. Except he didn’t doze off like last night. Tonight he was wide awake and a million different thoughts were running through his head. Majority were about the boy who lie sleeping just feet away.

He'd never managed to work out why he had the dream he'd had last night. It wasn't as if the kiss had meant anything between the two, in fact they'd cleared the air over it a while ago. Maybe he was just missing his team, after all, ever since hearing about the kiss no one had shut up about it, Pidge especially. Supposing that was the case, Lance thought about just how lonely he felt without them. Ever since he was a kid he'd either been with his family or Hunk and Pidge. Now, he had his team but they weren't with him anymore.

Looking at Keith's sleeping form, Lance started to wonder if that was why he was so stressed about being stuck here. He probably missed the team just as much as he did, especially if he didn't have a family. It struck Lance a bit oddly that perhaps the team was the only kind of family he'd ever had. He couldn't even begin to imagine a world without his family as he watched Keith's sides rise and fall. The loneliness Keith must have felt honestly pained Lance. This explained so much about the Paladin, like why he was such a lone wolf, why he was always so moody. He’d never had anyone actually care about him like Lance’s family had with him. No one had ever looked at him and tried to understand him, _Lance_ had never tried to.

Shockingly Lance was feeling like a grade A dick.

_I never even thought about what he might’ve been through…_

The dim light illuminated Keith’s smooth skin and Lance started to picture him as a child, alone in the world with no one to care for him. Just how had he come to be in the Garrison? What exactly had happened to him to make him so...so Keith?

Why had Lance been so blind?

His heart was heavy as he made his way over to Keith. The Paladin’s eyes were closed, his lashes thick and unmoving as he lay there peacefully asleep. Lance wondered what he dreamed about, what he hoped for, what motivated him in life. Lance looked at the parted lips that had cursed him, teased him, _kissed_ him. He leaned in slowly and brushed Keith’s dark locks from his forehead before placing a kiss at the top of his head like his mother had, like his father had, as if that could make up some of the loneliness he must’ve felt all those years.

Lance vowed then and there that Keith would never feel alone again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you guys so much for commenting and stuff. It means a lot!
> 
> My tumblr - thelunarladybug


	4. I AM NOT DEAD

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Gotta explain my absence boiiiii

I am so sorry that I haven't updated in a while. I've been in a bit of a writing slump but I've started rereading some books to give me inspiration (Thank you Marissa Meyer). I'm about halfway through the next chapter and I really would like to finish this fanfic. Just bare with me guys. School is stressful and really sucks away all of my motivation :(

I do want to thank you guys for liking this fic and everything! I have really bad anxiety about my writing so I was really uneasy about posting this fic.


	5. Five

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Essentially character analysis? Also I was doing an acting exercise and decided to see how that would play out between these two nerds. Basically they need to get to know each other before they get together???

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about fuckin' time. 
> 
> I spent three weeks on this and failed a test. I am not checking for inconsistencies. I just hope and pray my writing is up to par.

_What. The. Actual. Fuck?_

That was all Keith had been able to think about since what he thought had happened last night happened. Of course, he wasn't completely sure it had actually occurred...he'd been nearly asleep and the action was out of Lance's character. There was no way his lips had actually been pressed against his forehead.

Still, whether he'd been dreaming it all or not, it was impossible to get the thought out of his head.

When he woke up that morning, the memory was still very much alive in his head. Keith had tried his best to play things off when Lance had greeted him, but he wasn't exactly the best actor.

The blue lion's display had said that it wouldn't be as hot out today, a gift given to them by the overcast skies. Lance had suggested the two go exploring. Anything to get them out of the stuffy lion. Keith had turned his proposal down, however, stating that he needed to work with his lion. And it was just his luck that the day he needed an excuse to stay away from Lance, was also the day his lion decided it would cooperate.

Red ran some diagnostics while Keith leaned back in his chair. At least his lion's heating and cooling systems were operational. So far it seemed like everything was running in near perfect condition. His lion just hadn't approved of his reckless behavior when he'd been fighting Zarkon. Who could blame her though?

"Keith?" Lance's voice crackled through the communication system.

Reluctantly, Keith answered the comm and a picture of Lance's face flickered onto the screen.

"Looks like your lion's working!" he observed happily. Keith couldn't find it in himself to share in the excitement.

"Yeah, I'm just running some tests right now. Everything looks to be okay."

"So can we go look around now?"

There was a beat of silence while Keith thought things over. The look on Lance's face sent an odd warmth throughout Keith's chest that he wasn't all too familiar with-or fond of for that matter.

"I don't know..." he trailed off before adding, "I'm kind of enjoying the cool air."

"Blue has cool air too!" Lance feigned offense.

"Not as cool as Red's."

Lance looked at Keith skeptically. "Well we'll just see about that. I'm coming over there now."

There was no time to argue as the comm ended. Keith's heart began to pound away in his chest. Why was he so nervous? He'd just been dreaming. There was no use in getting worked up over something that didn't even happen. Lance didn't do anything to him to warrant his behavior. So, Keith decided, when Lance came knocking he'd answer and he'd forget all about the dream. He had to.

Trying to forget the dream had proved more difficult than he'd anticipated. Even though he and Lance were arguing over which of the two lions was better (a fight that neither one would ever come to a consensus on) he still couldn't get the feeling of Lance's lips pressed against his forehead to go away. Besides, the more and more he thought about it, the more real it seemed to become. You couldn't feel things in dreams, right? Had his mind just simply twisted the memory to make him think he'd felt it? There was no way of knowing.

Lost in thought, Keith had accidentally let the banter stop and there was an awkward silence. _Well shit_.

"Wanna just play a game?" Lance suggested, trying to put an end to the tense air around them.

"What sort of game?"

"Why don't we just ask each other some questions or something? It's not like I know that much about you."

It was hard for Lance to really understand why he was interested in Keith. He was his teammate, his comrade, someone who was once his rival. Making an effort to understand him was something he felt he needed to do. But wanting to know more about the Paladin didn't just come from his feeling of obligation. Rather, he wanted to know about Keith. He wanted to know desperately. Lance had no idea if Keith would be willing to open up to him, but it was worth a shot.

"You go first."

Lance pondered for a moment. He didn't want to start out asking something invasive. So he searched around for a simple idea. "Do you pour your milk or cereal first?"

"Cereal. What kind of person pours their milk first?"

"My older sister," Lance drawled, "Okay, you're turn!"

"Hmmm...do you run your toothbrush under the sink before or after putting on the toothpaste?"

It was a simple question like his but Lance wasn't going to complain, "before. You?"

"After."

The questions went dead for a moment until Lance realized it was his turn to ask a question. He guessed that asking Keith what he did for his own question didn't count.

He decided to try his luck with a question that was polarizing.

"DC or Marvel?"

Keith smirked, "Marvel. I wouldn't be caught dead reading or watching DC."

Lance wasn't pleased with his answer.

"What?!"

"I just don't like them that much," he shrugged with the shittiest grin on his face. God, Keith was just trying to get under his skin.

"How do you not like DC? The Flash is like, the greatest superhero of all time!"

"No," he corrected, "I believe that would be Spiderman."

"Okay Spiderman is cool but, there's just something so retro about liking DC!"

Keith just laughed, "wow look at you. I never would've pegged you for a 'hipster'."

"I'm not a hipster!" Lance defended.

"With that elitist attitude you sure are."

"Are you sure you're not the one with the 'elitist attitude'?"

The two were laughing so hard that they had to take a moment to gather themselves. Lance was wiping away tears and marveling at the joy splayed on Keith's face. It struck Lance rather suddenly then that this was one of the first times he'd seen Keith actually get swept up in something and _laugh_. Sure he'd smirked or smiled in a friendly manner, but this was different than that. This was a look that made Lance's brain stop everything. It made his face feel hot, his ear burn, and his heart beat erratically.

He never wanted to stop seeing that smile.

"So you really don't like Marvel?" Keith asked when he'd gained control of his breathing.

"I like Marvel. I just like DC more."

"You enjoy them both?" Keith asked seemingly a bit surprised.

"Yeah?"

"That's like saying you like Star Wars _and_ Star Trek. It's just not possible."

Oh if only Keith knew that he liked them both.

Lance just crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air, trying his best to embody the air of elitism. "I understand that they are never to mix, but each of them is good in their own way."

"Explain," Keith challenged with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Well," Lance stuttered as he tried to gather his esteemed argument. "Probably the easiest thing to look at is their movie franchises that came out when our parents were teens. The Dark Knight is still an absolute masterpiece, but all their other live actions are lacking majorly in character development. Marvel on the other hand, is consistent with it's character development which in turn makes their live actions better.

" _But_ , DC makes the best animated movies/shows. Honestly, I'd rather watch a freaking animated show about the Flash than I would a Marvel movie."

Happy with the points he'd made, Lance smiled triumphantly.

"There's something wrong with you." 

Lance's smile only grew wider, "I could say the same thing about you."

Keith started to smile too but it only vanished. Keith shifted his weight inwards and his eyes darted away from Lance. He could've sworn the other Paladin was blushing but within an instant it was too late to tell as Keith stood up and stretched.

"You said something earlier about taking a look around?"

 

****

 

"I take it back! I want to go back to the lions!" Lance heaved as Keith continued walking a few paces ahead of him.

"Come on, don't be such a baby," he said with absolutely zero amounts of sympathy.

"Keeeeeeiiiiitthhhhhhhh," Lance only whined louder. "I'm not built for this kind of gravityyyyy."

"Neither am I but you don't see me complaining."

Shoulders drooping, Lance admitted defeat and begrudgingly trudged on. Thankfully, the sun was still hidden behind the thick clouds. The weather wasn't as torrid as normal, but it was still hot enough to make Lance sweat. But Lance tried his best to ignore it like Keith had told him to. Instead, he looked at the world around him to see it covered in desaturated reds and oranges. It was the perfect picture of a desert.

It reminded Lance of the Garrison base and had him longing for home.

He thought back to his days when he'd been a part of the Garrison. He looked at the boy in front of him and realized that if he'd never left Earth, he would've never grown to have him as a friend. He might have never made it as anything more than a cargo pilot like Keith had always told him.

What had once been such a caustic relationship between the two, had grown into a great comradery that Lance couldn't really understand. If he'd stayed on Earth, he would've resented Keith probably till the day he died. It was a thought that made him hate his old self.

Lance couldn't really guess as to why Keith had flunked out. There were plenty of rumors. Drinking, sex, recklessness, were any of those even true? Keith didn't strike him as the kind of guy to participate in those kind of activities. Though he could agree with the fact he was reckless. That was mostly due to his temper. He'd never liked Keith, but that was because he'd always been envious and angry. Keith was the best in the class and he'd thrown it away, meanwhile, Lance couldn't even manage to make fighter class without him dropping out.

But all of that was water under the bridge. The anger, the resentment, it was all gone. The curiosity on the other hand, still remained.

"Hey Keith?" Lance started, still unsure as to whether or not it was appropriate of him to ask.

"Mm?"

"What happened with you and the Garrison?"

Keith seemed a bit surprised, "what do you mean?"

"Like why did you get kicked out?"

"I flunked out on purpose."

The flame that ignited in Lance's chest couldn't be helped. He'd thought over many reasons he might have left, but he never thought that Keith would've given up. He'd always thought of him as better than that. Guess he was wrong.

"Why?"

The old Lance wanted to tell Keith everything he thought about him, but he held himself back. Surely there had to be a reason. He couldn't let Keith think he still harbored negative feelings towards him if this was just some misunderstanding. But if it wasn't?

"It just wasn't fulfilling."

Silence.

"I get that I was good at it. But it's like nothing I ever do makes me happy, it's never enough. I don't really know how to explain it, but nothing I've ever done has felt like it's been worth it." Then there was a pause. "Except this. Being part of Voltron.

Once again Lance felt the bud of jealously blooming in his chest. Becoming a fighter pilot had meant everything to him. It had been all he focused on even if he did mask his efforts with humor and indifference. He'd left his family behind to join the Garrison. He'd wanted to be something. In a big family, you had to do something spectacular to get noticed. He didn't want to just be the funny middle child. He had always aspired to be something greater.

He loved his family dearly, but that didn't change the fact he felt like he was always competing. And there Keith had been, barely trying but learning everything with ease.

It was stupid now that he thought about it. Keith was just trying to find his place in the world, the same as him. The only difference was that Lance had been barred from the path he wanted to take and Keith had yet to find his. 

Things were different now. Keith had found his place with Voltron. He'd found his way and was succeeding. Lance, however, was still fighting to get to where he wanted to be, and that was a fighter pilot in the Garrison. He would only be a part of Voltron till Zarkon was defeated. Then, he was going home.

Lance wondered what Keith would do when it came time to leave Voltron behind.

But as the world around them began to dim and the shape of a spacecraft burned the sky, Lance figured that Keith's place would forever be with Voltron and soon enough they'd be saying goodbye.

 

****

 

Allura had met them at their lions. There'd been cheering and laughter as everyone was reunited. They'd all gathered on the main deck and Lance was joking around with Pidge and Hunk. Keith hung in the back of the room, happy to see everyone back together. 

"You're an idiot."

Pidge rolled her eyes as Lance shoved another spoon in his nostril.

"You missed me," he purred back, batting his eyes in the most obnoxious way possible. Everyone laughed and Keith even let himself chuckle a bit. Although he'd appreciated the time he'd been stranded with Lance, it was nice to get a sense of normality back. He'd missed everyone.

He'd missed Pidge's uncanny ability to sass everyone. He'd missed Hunk's warmth and kindness. He'd missed Shiro's constant guidance. He'd missed Allura's smile. He'd missed Coran's wacky imagination. _He'd missed his team_.

Even under this feeling of family, of joy, there was still fear burned into the back of everyone's mind. What would happen if Zarkon managed to separate them again? Shiro had been alone and under siege. What would happen if they lost just one lion?

It was something that made Keith shiver just thinking about.

None of that mattered right now, he reminded himself. The team was back together again and that needed to be his main priority. Worrying about what-ifs would never change anything.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned slowly to see Shiro looking down at him. He looked the same, a bit more tired perhaps, but he still was Shiro. His eyes were kind and his smile gentle. There was a slight difference now though. The scar going across his face wasn't alone now. There was a cut on his lip that seemed to be healing well but would most definitely leave a scar.

"I'm surprised you and Lance didn't kill each other," his words held some humor to them. "You guys okay?"

Keith let the small smile pull at his lips as he shrugged, "Yeah. We bonded."

Shiro smiled warmly and his eyes crinkled. He jokingly punched Keith in the shoulder as if to say, 'I'm proud of you'. It was little things like that that always made Keith feel like he belonged.

The banter had died down a bit and Allura and Coran were running over a few modifications they'd made to the ships systems.

"There's no way that we can prevent them from hijacking our portals," Coran stated plainly. "We do however have some new systems in place-"

"We managed to get some data from Earth!" Allura interjected with much excitement. "Pidge actually wound up in your solar system. When we got there, Pidge decided it would be a nice surprise for you all to know what was happening down on Earth."

Pidge smiled proudly when Hunk lifted her up onto his shoulders whooping and hollering. Everyone in the room grew excited except for Lance. No one paid him much mind, but Keith found it odd that someone usually so ready to jump into a frenzied excitement was holding back. He could only guess as to why Lance wasn't ecstatic like the others but he didn't move to talk to him. He was making every effort not to be noticed right now.

"You'll never guess what day it is back home guys," Pidge challenged. Hunk threw out a few guesses but Pidge just shook her head smugly. "Nope! It's Halloween!" She said darkly, wiggling her fingers like she was trying to be some kind of evil villain.

That's when Lance up like a Christmas tree and the three's voices struck up into cheers. Shiro just laughed while Coran and Allura actually looked fearful.

"What in the Quiznak is Hal-o-ween?" Coran asked, his pronunciation horrible at best.

"It's this holiday we celebrate every October thirty-first where people, mostly kids, dress up and go trick-or-treating," her voice dropped just a bit. "Matt and I were never really social as kids, but every Halloween we'd go all out and have a blast. Every year we won the school costume contests and..." she trailed off, her feelings betraying her. She didn't cry but Keith could tell she wanted to. She'd probably do it when she was alone and there was no one there to see her pain.

It burned Keith up inside.

Hunk, however, saved the day by leaning forward and whipping her around in a circle. Her sniffles were soon replaced by laughter and the mood lightened up.

"Hey guys!" Lance of course had to be the first one to speak after such a tense moment. "Why don't we have a Halloween party or something? You know, just for old time's sake?"

Surprisingly everyone thought that was an amazing idea. Until Hunk shattered the dream.

"Uh, Lance? I hate to break it to you, but we don't exactly have access to costumes out here in the middle of space."

The room sighed in tandem.

"I might have a way to fix that," Allura offered. All eyes were on her. "We have a machine that can take images from your mind and make them real. They have to be very specific though. If your ideas aren't precise, it will look _horrid_."

All at once everyone's energy surged again.

Memories of Halloween were so common for everyone. Except for Keith. Never once in his life had he truly celebrated Halloween, or any other holiday. It made him feel like an outsider looking in on something so intimate, something that he shouldn't be seeing.

So he did what he did best and scooted out of the room without anyone noticing.

Avoiding social situations was something he'd become a pro at when he was very young. Slinking out of rooms or situations that made him uncomfortable was just something that came second nature to him.

The castle was big and most of the rooms went unused. It was something he'd discovered quite early on and he'd found this one room; he could only guess at what it was used for, but it was dark and quiet. Just the way he liked it.

His room offered him some peace, but he always came here when he didn't want to be found. When he just wanted to lean his head back and breathe in the silence. He wasn't sad, he wasn't angry, he just needed to de-stress.

"Keith?"

Lance's voice wasn't exactly soft and it caused Keith to jump and curse at the suddenness. 

"I saw you leaving. What's up?" His hands were in his pockets as he lifted a leg and he shifted uncomfortably. Keith knew the question was just being asked out of politeness so he decided not to let Lance see the ugly truth.

"I'm just really tired."

Keith was either a horrible liar or Lance was more perceptive than he thought because he didn't relent.

"I know you're lying," he frowned, the discomfort draining from his body. "Seriously. What's wrong? You're my teammate, you can talk to me."

"I could say the same thing to you," Keith's words came out snappier than he'd intended, but he didn't apologize. Something had been bothering Lance yet here he was interrogating Keith. Granted, Keith hadn't exactly approached Lance to see what was wrong.

He should probably apologize.

He didn't.

"Fine," Lance huffed, "I tell you what's wrong then you tell me."

Keith just nodded and closed his eyes.

"I miss Earth. I miss my family."

The answer was honest. Keith knew that. A part of him had figured that was his reasoning behind suggesting they throw a little Halloween party. It was his way of trying to connect with those he wasn't able to.

"I'm sorry," Keith finally said. "I saw that something was bugging you but I figured you didn't want to be bothered. I should've asked. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," he slid down next to him. Even when they were leaning back against the wall Lance was an inch taller.

"Yes I do. You take an interest in me and I..."

Lance put his hand on Keith's shoulder. 

"But you noticed. No one else really knows when I'm off. Honestly, I don't like letting people see me when I'm down. I conceal it as best I can. You on the other hand," he teased, "are an open book."

Keith chuckled softly before Lance began poking him. "Your turn."

Only a ghost of a smile remained on Keith's face as he thought. Should he really tell Lance? Lance hadn't really expanded much on his feelings. Then again, Lance's feelings didn't really need any clarification. What he'd said made perfect sense.

"I don't really know to be honest."

Lance just watched him intently.

"Whenever you guys start talking about your families or lives back on Earth I just..."

"You get jealous but at the same time it makes you sad."

Dark brown eyes met with dark blue ones and Keith's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. Shiro had often times offered him support but never in his wildest dreams would _Lance_ understand what he felt. It really showed him how there was more to a person that you saw at first glance.

For a while, they just sat there in silence. Keith stared at the reason he'd grown so fond of this room. He stared, taking in the stars, the endless void that felt more like home than Earth ever had. No, correct that. He stared at the endless void that had given him his home, his family.

Voltron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I find both DC and Marvel enjoyable for reasons mentioned by Lance. Also, I'm updating next Monday and I had to set it up for Halloween boi. I am updating two fics that day. Please. Give me strength.


	6. Six

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Essentially character analysis? Also I was doing an acting exercise and decided to see how that would play out between these two nerds. Basically they need to get to know each other before they get together???
> 
>  
> 
> OKAY BUT SRSLY WTF IT SAID THIS WAS A DRAFT WTF I THOUGHT I POSTED IT I AM SCREAMING.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's about fuckin' time. 
> 
> I spent three weeks on this and failed a test. I am not checking for inconsistencies. I just hope and pray my writing is up to par.

_What. The. Actual. Fuck?_

That was all Keith had been able to think about since what he thought had happened last night happened. Of course, he wasn't completely sure it had actually occurred...he'd been nearly asleep and the action was out of Lance's character. There was no way his lips had actually been pressed against his forehead.

Still, whether he'd been dreaming it all or not, it was impossible to get the thought out of his head.

When he woke up that morning, the memory was still very much alive in his head. Keith had tried his best to play things off when Lance had greeted him, but he wasn't exactly the best actor.

The blue lion's display had said that it wouldn't be as hot out today, a gift given to them by the overcast skies. Lance had suggested the two go exploring. Anything to get them out of the stuffy lion. Keith had turned his proposal down, however, stating that he needed to work with his lion. And it was just his luck that the day he needed an excuse to stay away from Lance, was also the day his lion decided it would cooperate.

Red ran some diagnostics while Keith leaned back in his chair. At least his lion's heating and cooling systems were operational. So far it seemed like everything was running in near perfect condition. His lion just hadn't approved of his reckless behavior when he'd been fighting Zarkon. Who could blame her though?

"Keith?" Lance's voice crackled through the communication system.

Reluctantly, Keith answered the comm and a picture of Lance's face flickered onto the screen.

"Looks like your lion's working!" he observed happily. Keith couldn't find it in himself to share in the excitement.

"Yeah, I'm just running some tests right now. Everything looks to be okay."

"So can we go look around now?"

There was a beat of silence while Keith thought things over. The look on Lance's face sent an odd warmth throughout Keith's chest that he wasn't all too familiar with-or fond of for that matter.

"I don't know..." he trailed off before adding, "I'm kind of enjoying the cool air."

"Blue has cool air too!" Lance feigned offense.

"Not as cool as Red's."

Lance looked at Keith skeptically. "Well we'll just see about that. I'm coming over there now."

There was no time to argue as the comm ended. Keith's heart began to pound away in his chest. Why was he so nervous? He'd just been dreaming. There was no use in getting worked up over something that didn't even happen. Lance didn't do anything to him to warrant his behavior. So, Keith decided, when Lance came knocking he'd answer and he'd forget all about the dream. He had to.

Trying to forget the dream had proved more difficult than he'd anticipated. Even though he and Lance were arguing over which of the two lions was better (a fight that neither one would ever come to a consensus on) he still couldn't get the feeling of Lance's lips pressed against his forehead to go away. Besides, the more and more he thought about it, the more real it seemed to become. You couldn't feel things in dreams, right? Had his mind just simply twisted the memory to make him think he'd felt it? There was no way of knowing.

Lost in thought, Keith had accidentally let the banter stop and there was an awkward silence. _Well shit_.

"Wanna just play a game?" Lance suggested, trying to put an end to the tense air around them.

"What sort of game?"

"Why don't we just ask each other some questions or something? It's not like I know that much about you."

It was hard for Lance to really understand why he was interested in Keith. He was his teammate, his comrade, someone who was once his rival. Making an effort to understand him was something he felt he needed to do. But wanting to know more about the Paladin didn't just come from his feeling of obligation. Rather, he wanted to know about Keith. He wanted to know desperately. Lance had no idea if Keith would be willing to open up to him, but it was worth a shot.

"You go first."

Lance pondered for a moment. He didn't want to start out asking something invasive. So he searched around for a simple idea. "Do you pour your milk or cereal first?"

"Cereal. What kind of person pours their milk first?"

"My older sister," Lance drawled, "Okay, you're turn!"

"Hmmm...do you run your toothbrush under the sink before or after putting on the toothpaste?"

It was a simple question like his but Lance wasn't going to complain, "before. You?"

"After."

The questions went dead for a moment until Lance realized it was his turn to ask a question. He guessed that asking Keith what he did for his own question didn't count.

He decided to try his luck with a question that was polarizing.

"DC or Marvel?"

Keith smirked, "Marvel. I wouldn't be caught dead reading or watching DC."

Lance wasn't pleased with his answer.

"What?!"

"I just don't like them that much," he shrugged with the shittiest grin on his face. God, Keith was just trying to get under his skin.

"How do you not like DC? The Flash is like, the greatest superhero of all time!"

"No," he corrected, "I believe that would be Spiderman."

"Okay Spiderman is cool but, there's just something so retro about liking DC!"

Keith just laughed, "wow look at you. I never would've pegged you for a 'hipster'."

"I'm not a hipster!" Lance defended.

"With that elitist attitude you sure are."

"Are you sure you're not the one with the 'elitist attitude'?"

The two were laughing so hard that they had to take a moment to gather themselves. Lance was wiping away tears and marveling at the joy splayed on Keith's face. It struck Lance rather suddenly then that this was one of the first times he'd seen Keith actually get swept up in something and _laugh_. Sure he'd smirked or smiled in a friendly manner, but this was different than that. This was a look that made Lance's brain stop everything. It made his face feel hot, his ear burn, and his heart beat erratically.

He never wanted to stop seeing that smile.

"So you really don't like Marvel?" Keith asked when he'd gained control of his breathing.

"I like Marvel. I just like DC more."

"You enjoy them both?" Keith asked seemingly a bit surprised.

"Yeah?"

"That's like saying you like Star Wars _and_ Star Trek. It's just not possible."

Oh if only Keith knew that he liked them both.

Lance just crossed his arms and stuck his nose in the air, trying his best to embody the air of elitism. "I understand that they are never to mix, but each of them is good in their own way."

"Explain," Keith challenged with the raise of an eyebrow.

"Well," Lance stuttered as he tried to gather his esteemed argument. "Probably the easiest thing to look at is their movie franchises that came out when our parents were teens. The Dark Knight is still an absolute masterpiece, but all their other live actions are lacking majorly in character development. Marvel on the other hand, is consistent with it's character development which in turn makes their live actions better.

" _But_ , DC makes the best animated movies/shows. Honestly, I'd rather watch a freaking animated show about the Flash than I would a Marvel movie."

Happy with the points he'd made, Lance smiled triumphantly.

"There's something wrong with you." 

Lance's smile only grew wider, "I could say the same thing about you."

Keith started to smile too but it only vanished. Keith shifted his weight inwards and his eyes darted away from Lance. He could've sworn the other Paladin was blushing but within an instant it was too late to tell as Keith stood up and stretched.

"You said something earlier about taking a look around?"

 

****

 

"I take it back! I want to go back to the lions!" Lance heaved as Keith continued walking a few paces ahead of him.

"Come on, don't be such a baby," he said with absolutely zero amounts of sympathy.

"Keeeeeeiiiiitthhhhhhhh," Lance only whined louder. "I'm not built for this kind of gravityyyyy."

"Neither am I but you don't see me complaining."

Shoulders drooping, Lance admitted defeat and begrudgingly trudged on. Thankfully, the sun was still hidden behind the thick clouds. The weather wasn't as torrid as normal, but it was still hot enough to make Lance sweat. But Lance tried his best to ignore it like Keith had told him to. Instead, he looked at the world around him to see it covered in desaturated reds and oranges. It was the perfect picture of a desert.

It reminded Lance of the Garrison base and had him longing for home.

He thought back to his days when he'd been a part of the Garrison. He looked at the boy in front of him and realized that if he'd never left Earth, he would've never grown to have him as a friend. He might have never made it as anything more than a cargo pilot like Keith had always told him.

What had once been such a caustic relationship between the two, had grown into a great comradery that Lance couldn't really understand. If he'd stayed on Earth, he would've resented Keith probably till the day he died. It was a thought that made him hate his old self.

Lance couldn't really guess as to why Keith had flunked out. There were plenty of rumors. Drinking, sex, recklessness, were any of those even true? Keith didn't strike him as the kind of guy to participate in those kind of activities. Though he could agree with the fact he was reckless. That was mostly due to his temper. He'd never liked Keith, but that was because he'd always been envious and angry. Keith was the best in the class and he'd thrown it away, meanwhile, Lance couldn't even manage to make fighter class without him dropping out.

But all of that was water under the bridge. The anger, the resentment, it was all gone. The curiosity on the other hand, still remained.

"Hey Keith?" Lance started, still unsure as to whether or not it was appropriate of him to ask.

"Mm?"

"What happened with you and the Garrison?"

Keith seemed a bit surprised, "what do you mean?"

"Like why did you get kicked out?"

"I flunked out on purpose."

The flame that ignited in Lance's chest couldn't be helped. He'd thought over many reasons he might have left, but he never thought that Keith would've given up. He'd always thought of him as better than that. Guess he was wrong.  
"Why?"

The old Lance wanted to tell Keith everything he thought about him, but he held himself back. Surely there had to be a reason. He couldn't let Keith think he still harbored negative feelings towards him if this was just some misunderstanding. But if it wasn't?

"It just wasn't fulfilling."

Silence.

"I get that I was good at it. But it's like nothing I ever do makes me happy, it's never enough. I don't really know how to explain it, but nothing I've ever done has felt like it's been worth it." Then there was a pause. "Except this. Being part of Voltron.

Once again Lance felt the bud of jealously blooming in his chest. Becoming a fighter pilot had meant everything to him. It had been all he focused on even if he did mask his efforts with humor and indifference. He'd left his family behind to join the Garrison. He'd wanted to be something. In a big family, you had to do something spectacular to get noticed. He didn't want to just be the funny middle child. He had always aspired to be something greater.

He loved his family dearly, but that didn't change the fact he felt like he was always competing. And there Keith had been, barely trying but learning everything with ease.

It was stupid now that he thought about it. Keith was just trying to find his place in the world, the same as him. The only difference was that Lance had been barred from the path he wanted to take and Keith had yet to find his. 

Things were different now. Keith had found his place with Voltron. He'd found his way and was succeeding. Lance, however, was still fighting to get to where he wanted to be, and that was a fighter pilot in the Garrison. He would only be a part of Voltron till Zarkon was defeated. Then, he was going home.

Lance wondered what Keith would do when it came time to leave Voltron behind.

But as the world around them began to dim and the shape of a spacecraft burned the sky, Lance figured that Keith's place would forever be with Voltron and soon enough they'd be saying goodbye.

 

****

 

Allura had met them at their lions. There'd been cheering and laughter as everyone was reunited. They'd all gathered on the main deck and Lance was joking around with Pidge and Hunk. Keith hung in the back of the room, happy to see everyone back together. 

"You're an idiot."

Pidge rolled her eyes as Lance shoved another spoon in his nostril.

"You missed me," he purred back, batting his eyes in the most obnoxious way possible. Everyone laughed and Keith even let himself chuckle a bit. Although he'd appreciated the time he'd been stranded with Lance, it was nice to get a sense of normality back. He'd missed everyone.

He'd missed Pidge's uncanny ability to sass everyone. He'd missed Hunk's warmth and kindness. He'd missed Shiro's constant guidance. He'd missed Allura's smile. He'd missed Coran's wacky imagination. _He'd missed his team_.

Even under this feeling of family, of joy, there was still fear burned into the back of everyone's mind. What would happen if Zarkon managed to separate them again? Shiro had been alone and under siege. What would happen if they lost just one lion?

It was something that made Keith shiver just thinking about.

None of that mattered right now, he reminded himself. The team was back together again and that needed to be his main priority. Worrying about what-ifs would never change anything.

Suddenly, there was a hand on his shoulder. He turned slowly to see Shiro looking down at him. He looked the same, a bit more tired perhaps, but he still was Shiro. His eyes were kind and his smile gentle. There was a slight difference now though. The scar going across his face wasn't alone now. There was a cut on his lip that seemed to be healing well but would most definitely leave a scar.

"I'm surprised you and Lance didn't kill each other," his words held some humor to them. "You guys okay?"

Keith let the small smile pull at his lips as he shrugged, "Yeah. We bonded."

Shiro smiled warmly and his eyes crinkled. He jokingly punched Keith in the shoulder as if to say, 'I'm proud of you'. It was little things like that that always made Keith feel like he belonged.

The banter had died down a bit and Allura and Coran were running over a few modifications they'd made to the ships systems.

"There's no way that we can prevent them from hijacking our portals," Coran stated plainly. "We do however have some new systems in place-"

"We managed to get some data from Earth!" Allura interjected with much excitement. "Pidge actually wound up in your solar system. When we got there, Pidge decided it would be a nice surprise for you all to know what was happening down on Earth."

Pidge smiled proudly when Hunk lifted her up onto his shoulders whooping and hollering. Everyone in the room grew excited except for Lance. No one paid him much mind, but Keith found it odd that someone usually so ready to jump into a frenzied excitement was holding back. He could only guess as to why Lance wasn't ecstatic like the others but he didn't move to talk to him. He was making every effort not to be noticed right now.

"You'll never guess what day it is back home guys," Pidge challenged. Hunk threw out a few guesses but Pidge just shook her head smugly. "Nope! It's Halloween!" She said darkly, wiggling her fingers like she was trying to be some kind of evil villain.

That's when Lance up like a Christmas tree and the three's voices struck up into cheers. Shiro just laughed while Coran and Allura actually looked fearful.

"What in the Quiznak is Hal-o-ween?" Coran asked, his pronunciation horrible at best.

"It's this holiday we celebrate every October thirty-first where people, mostly kids, dress up and go trick-or-treating," her voice dropped just a bit. "Matt and I were never really social as kids, but every Halloween we'd go all out and have a blast. Every year we won the school costume contests and..." she trailed off, her feelings betraying her. She didn't cry but Keith could tell she wanted to. She'd probably do it when she was alone and there was no one there to see her pain.

It burned Keith up inside.

Hunk, however, saved the day by leaning forward and whipping her around in a circle. Her sniffles were soon replaced by laughter and the mood lightened up.

"Hey guys!" Lance of course had to be the first one to speak after such a tense moment. "Why don't we have a Halloween party or something? You know, just for old time's sake?"

Surprisingly everyone thought that was an amazing idea. Until Hunk shattered the dream.

"Uh, Lance? I hate to break it to you, but we don't exactly have access to costumes out here in the middle of space."

The room sighed in tandem.

"I might have a way to fix that," Allura offered. All eyes were on her. "We have a machine that can take images from your mind and make them real. They have to be very specific though. If your ideas aren't precise, it will look _horrid_."

All at once everyone's energy surged again.

Memories of Halloween were so common for everyone. Except for Keith. Never once in his life had he truly celebrated Halloween, or any other holiday. It made him feel like an outsider looking in on something so intimate, something that he shouldn't be seeing.

So he did what he did best and scooted out of the room without anyone noticing.

Avoiding social situations was something he'd become a pro at when he was very young. Slinking out of rooms or situations that made him uncomfortable was just something that came second nature to him.

The castle was big and most of the rooms went unused. It was something he'd discovered quite early on and he'd found this one room; he could only guess at what it was used for, but it was dark and quiet. Just the way he liked it.

His room offered him some peace, but he always came here when he didn't want to be found. When he just wanted to lean his head back and breathe in the silence. He wasn't sad, he wasn't angry, he just needed to de-stress.

"Keith?"

Lance's voice wasn't exactly soft and it caused Keith to jump and curse at the suddenness. 

"I saw you leaving. What's up?" His hands were in his pockets as he lifted a leg and he shifted uncomfortably. Keith knew the question was just being asked out of politeness so he decided not to let Lance see the ugly truth.

"I'm just really tired."

Keith was either a horrible liar or Lance was more perceptive than he thought because he didn't relent.

"I know you're lying," he frowned, the discomfort draining from his body. "Seriously. What's wrong? You're my teammate, you can talk to me."

"I could say the same thing to you," Keith's words came out snappier than he'd intended, but he didn't apologize. Something had been bothering Lance yet here he was interrogating Keith. Granted, Keith hadn't exactly approached Lance to see what was wrong.

He should probably apologize.

He didn't.

"Fine," Lance huffed, "I tell you what's wrong then you tell me."

Keith just nodded and closed his eyes.

"I miss Earth. I miss my family."

The answer was honest. Keith knew that. A part of him had figured that was his reasoning behind suggesting they throw a little Halloween party. It was his way of trying to connect with those he wasn't able to.

"I'm sorry," Keith finally said. "I saw that something was bugging you but I figured you didn't want to be bothered. I should've asked. I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize," he slid down next to him. Even when they were leaning back against the wall Lance was an inch taller.

"Yes I do. You take an interest in me and I..."

Lance put his hand on Keith's shoulder. 

"But you noticed. No one else really knows when I'm off. Honestly, I don't like letting people see me when I'm down. I conceal it as best I can. You on the other hand," he teased, "are an open book."

Keith chuckled softly before Lance began poking him. "Your turn."

Only a ghost of a smile remained on Keith's face as he thought. Should he really tell Lance? Lance hadn't really expanded much on his feelings. Then again, Lance's feelings didn't really need any clarification. What he'd said made perfect sense.

"I don't really know to be honest."

Lance just watched him intently.

"Whenever you guys start talking about your families or lives back on Earth I just..."

"You get jealous but at the same time it makes you sad."

Dark brown eyes met with dark blue ones and Keith's mind was a whirlwind of confusion. Shiro had often times offered him support but never in his wildest dreams would _Lance_ understand what he felt. It really showed him how there was more to a person that you saw at first glance.

For a while, they just sat there in silence. Keith stared at the reason he'd grown so fond of this room. He stared, taking in the stars, the endless void that felt more like home than Earth ever had. No, correct that. He stared at the endless void that had given him his home, his family.

Voltron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Personally, I find both DC and Marvel enjoyable for reasons mentioned by Lance. Also, I'm updating next Monday and I had to set it up for Halloween boi. I am updating two fics that day. Please. Give me strength.


	7. Seven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Halloween got pretty gay. *based off of real experience guys, please end me*
> 
> if you poops didn't get 6 (it said it was a draft and I'm fuking pissed) then go read that bc honestly ur probably like wtf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a lame excuse for a Halloween chapter, I won't lie to you. But I decided my original idea was just too angsty and I wasn't enjoying it. I think you guys won't mind the break from character analysis though. Now the plot is moving forward.

The group had gone back and forth over having costumes. In the end, they decided that it would be too difficult and Allura and Coran wouldn't be able to enjoy it as much. So instead, the group decided to play man-hunt, aka, glorified adult hide and seek. Lance couldn't wait.

Pidge had ganged up with Allura and Hunk, Pidge and Allura were seekers while Hunk guarded the prison. Everyone had split up and there were only two minutes left until Allura and Pidge came searching. Lance had to think fast.

He was sure there were tons of unused rooms around so he decided to go scouting for something so obvious, no one would even think to look. As he searched, he stumbled upon a large set of doors. The sheer grandeur of them was sure to be a deterrent. No one in their right mind would choose to hide in a room so flamboyant. Unless of course they were Lance.

The doors weren't like the others in the castle. They weren't hatches that automatically opened when they sensed movement. Instead, these doors were made out of a heavy metal that Lance could barely push open. He ensured they closed behind him so they wouldn't give any seekers and hints, but he wasn't so sure the doors had closed silently. He just hoped Pidge and Allura were too busy counting to listen.

Inside, the room was massive. It was pristine despite it's recent neglect. Lance supposed there weren't exactly very many cobwebs in space. The room looked as though it was once a ballroom, sweeping stairs leading to the upper level, and luxurious carvings all around. The walls glittered the same color as the rest of the ship, but for some reason, these held much more finesse to them. On the sides of the dance floor, there were rows upon rows of intricately designed tables with wilting plants as center pieces. Lance couldn't help but get lost in the splendor of the place.

Although he was sure there was a place on Earth that could rival this castle's beauty, he'd never seen it with his own eyes.

He wondered about what all the room had been used for. He knew next to nothing about Altean culture, so his guesses were probably inaccurate. But he could see the Altean equivalent of a wedding happening here. Maybe huge banquets. He wondered if Allura had ever been to an event here.

Unaware of how much time had passed in his admiring of the place, Lance quickly looked for a hiding spot before instructing the castle to turn the lights off. He'd chosen to hide underneath one of the tables which was draped in a silky smooth cloth that had Lance sneezing. Even though there weren't any space cobwebs, there was still space dust.

He crawled under. The table was longer than he'd anticipated and he was able to stretch his long legs out completely. He was getting used to the fact Alteans made things a bit longer, considering that back on Earth his feet would always hit the end of the bed. He was always forced to scrunch up in a little ball. It made wearing headphones a bit uncomfortable.

Suddenly, the lights flipped on but Lance didn't dare look. Whether or not it was another person hiding or someone searching, he wouldn't give himself away.

He didn't breathe, he didn't move. Then he heard a voice telling the lights to turn off. That meant that whoever it was, was another hider.

Lance was a bit relieved. He didn't want to deal with the embarrassment that came with being the first person found. His ego couldn't handle such a devastating blow.

There was a rustle and Lance felt something slide up against his back. He practically screamed as he thrashed. 

A hand clamped over his mouth.

"You're gonna give us away," the owner of the voice warned. It was Keith. Of course.

"Holy crow, Keith!" Lance hissed. "Why are you here? This is my hiding place! Get your own!"

Keith only hushed him as they heard the heaving of the heavy doors. The lights didn't come on.

There was a tap, tap, tap, of someone's shoes. At this point, it was probably a seeker. Two minutes had most definitely passed. Through the crack beneath the table cloth, Lance saw a flashlight waving about. He couldn't make out who was holding it, but closer and closer they grew and Lance sunk backwards, pressing his back to Keith.

If Lance's heart had been hammering, Keith's was _exploding_.

"Dude, calm down," Lance said quietly. Keith only kicked him.

Keith's breath was shallow and Lance could feel the warm air pressing against the back of his neck. In the dark, he couldn't very well make out what he was doing, but Lance could feel the nerves radiating off of him.

Sure Lance hated to lose, but Keith's reaction was of a completely different sort. Why was he taking a game so seriously?

Then Lance had an idea.

Slowly, so as not to draw Keith's attention to him, Lance raised his leg to the table and began to move it. Once Keith realized what Lance was doing, he practically crawled on top of him. They were a tangle of limbs, Lance still trying his best to fight against the other Paladin. He was losing. Keith had successfully managed to immobilize Lance's legs with his own and was holding down Lance's arms. The only problem was, Keith had no way to silence Lance seeing as both his hands were being used to restrain Lance's arms.

With a raise of a brow, Lance decided he was going to drive Keith insane. Of course, Keith was predicting that Lance was going to be a little shit.

"Don't you dare," he warned. Lance only smirked.

"You can't stop me."

Lance took in a deep breath and eyed Keith to gauge his reaction. The flashlight was bouncing back and forth and Lance was able to see Keith's eyes flitting back and forth from the cloth to Lance frantically.

"I'm being serious, McClain." Keith buried his chest into Lance's face, trying to silence him. It didn't work.

" _Oh Keith~!_ " Lance cried in an overly feminine voice. He could only imagine how Keith must've been shitting himself.

The light flashed in their direction and the footsteps started growing closer. Lance couldn't help but snicker. He took in a few more breaths and got ready to yell out again but he stopped when he saw the look in Keith's eyes, visible only thanks to the light that grew ever nearer. It wasn't a look Lance was unfamiliar with. Determination laced with anger about summed up Keith's extreme case of rbf, but something felt different about it this time.

His breath left him as he stared up at the red Paladin, his face growing hot and his heart hammering faster. _Fuck not again_. Lance was almost tempted to say something else. Maybe something would happen. His eyes flicked down to Keith's lips. Maybe if he said something, Keith would place his lips on his.

But there was no chance for Lance to say anything else because the table cloth disappeared, something metal clattering to the floor. A light shown brightly under the table and Keith released one of Lance's arms to shield his eyes.

"Well, well, well. What do we have here?" Pidge sneered. "Were you two kissing again?"

Quickly assessing their positions, Lance and Keith scrambled away from each other, Keith managing to hit his head in his frenzy.

"Off to prison we go lovebirds," Pidge said with the biggest grin ever. Lance only rolled his eyes, too flustered to say anything.

No, they hadn't been kissing, but something had definitely been going on. At least something had been on Lance's end. He couldn't exactly speak for Keith. He just decided it would be best to drop the subject. Maybe pretend it didn't happen.

That of course would never work out, seeing as Pidge had to spread her knowledge to everyone. Once they were in prison (which was just the Command Deck) Pidge had whispered something in Hunk's ear and he'd gone bright red. Lance could only assume.

Neither Lance or Keith spoke to one another. They didn't even look at each other. All Lance could think about was the pounding of his heart. He replayed the entire event, how he'd sunken back against Keith, how his breath had ghosted over his neck. The feelings echoed throughout his body, only memories and not nearly as good as the real thing, but they still made his heart hammer. He found himself thinking about what would've happened if he had actually said something. Would Keith have kissed him? Lance couldn't deny that in the moment, even now, he'd wanted it. But what would that have meant for their relationship?

It probably was best that Pidge had stumbled upon them, even if it meant everyone on the team thinking they'd been making out. He'd work through his little boy crush. It didn't mean that things had to be awkward between he and Keith.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just. I. I really want them to start dating soon. So. I did the thing. Oopsss.


	8. Eight

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> You've heard of pining Keith, but we need some pining Lance up in this house.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's short but I have motivation for the next three chapters and I'm getting my wisdom teeth out in two weeks so I will have AMPLE time to write (I should be memorizing an entire play but that's not happening)

"I like Keith.'

There. He'd said it. Out loud. To other people. It was a lot different than saying it to himself in the mirror. Now it was real and other people knew.

He hadn't been able to hold it in anymore. There was pressure building up and crushing his brain. He couldn't think straight (no pun intended), he couldn't get Keith out of his head and it had started to affect his ability to fight as Voltron.

The team was pissed at him to say the least. Lance had always been flighty, but for the most part, he'd always been reliable. He was smart and a good soldier, so why was he acting so out of character? Pidge had her own ideas about the root cause, and Lance had admitted to her in confidence that she was right. He knew that Pidge liked to tease him, but she'd never try to sabotage his chances with Keith. That's the only reason he was trusting her.

He had also decided to open up to Hunk. Mostly because Hunk was Hunk, but also because it felt right; his little trio from the Garrison. It was freeing and nostalgic. 

"If you confess to Keith, Hunk will confess to Shay," Pidge prodded. She'd been trying way too hard to hook Lance and Keith up lately.

"When did I agree to that?!" Hunk protested. "It's like I told you, I just admire her!"

"If Hunk can't tell a rock that he likes her, how the hell am I supposed to tell _Keith_? If he doesn't like me then that'll screw things up."

"More than it already has? Honestly, you're thinking too much," Pidge's eyes rolled and she returned to peck away at her keyboard.

"It's not that easy," Lance muttered to himself. No one heard him.

Pidge was right though. Right now Lance was making things an absolute hellhole for the team. They were winning battles, but only by a narrow margin. If he didn't pull his act together and Zarkon appeared..? That's it. Fin! Finale!

"I bet he likes you," Pidge added.

"What? No way."

"It doesn't hurt to find out, right?"

"What do you mean?" he narrowed his eyes skeptically. What exactly was she planning?

"Why don't you try flirting?"

That was a curious idea. Flirting? With Keith? Lance was definitely a flirting god, the only lady who'd never fallen for his charms was Allura - okay maybe there were a few others but those were girls. This was Keith.

Besides, it's not like this was dangerous. If Keith thought anything of it, he could just dismiss it as him being friendly or something. And if Keith flirted back? Some of the risk of confessing was eliminated.

"Oh uh, guys?" Hunk asked. "Don't we have to go do some training?"

The trio scrambled out of the rec room and back to their rooms. In a rush, Lance threw on his gear. He observed himself in a mirror before finally deciding he looked decent enough to go. He was being ridiculous he knew, he'd just get sweaty and gross, but there was nothing wrong with wanting to look presentable. Especially since a handsome, hot-headed Paladin would be there.

Lance could hear Pidge gagging in the back of his mind. 

" _Lance_!" Pidge hollered from the hallway. "Stop jerking off and hurry up!"

Ah. What a gem. No wonder he'd never guessed Pidge was a girl.

****

Training was better than it had been lately, yet he still had managed to botch it up. Allura had given up and sent him off with Shiro. She felt like Lance needed some one on one time with him to work out some 'issues'. Basically, it was a therapy session. While the others were fighting against various programs, he was sat down talking about his feelings.

"So, what's up?" Shiro asked awkwardly. Obviously he had no idea where to go with this either. "Is something going on that you want to talk about?"

"I've already talked about it with Hunk and Pidge. I'm fine."

Shiro wasn't into Lance's dismissive behavior, but he was respectful enough to let the issue drop. That was something about Shiro that Lance loved. He was caring and was there when you needed him, but he didn't force his way into your personal life - much unlike a certain princess who was making her way over to the pair.

"Any luck?" she asked, her voice elated and forced. Lance couldn't tell if she was pretending to be happy because she was worried or angry. Fair to say it was a mix of the two.

"Lance says he's talked to Hunk and Pidge about the issue. I'm confident he's able to handle it on his own."

Allura frowned. "It's not good to keep secrets from your fellow Paladins," she chastised. 

"I know but, it's not something I'm really ready to talk about with everyone."

There was a moment of silence. Lance wondered if Allura would let that be the end of it. She'd been pushy when she'd discovered Pidge was a girl, and he wasn't sure Alteans really understood the need for privacy. So far, both she and Coran had proven to be large in personality, as if attention circulated completely around them - not in a bad way, but for all Lance knew, that was something that just came from being royalty (and it's not like he could really complain because quite a nosey bastard himself).

"Alright," she sighed. "I guess if that's how you feel..." she was dramatic as she walked away and Lance rolled his eyes.

"Okay, Keith," Shiro joked. Lance didn't really get the joke but the mention of the name made his face hot and his gut flip.

"W-what?"

"Being all distant and stuff... Keeping things to yourself... That's usually Keith's thing."

Oh. _Oh_. 

"Well everybody's got stuff they wanna keep to themselves," Lance tried his best to shrug away his nerves. Shiro just smiled knowingly.

"He talks to me about things and you talk to Pidge and Hunk. It's okay if you don't want to tell me what's going on, just know that I'm here if you need anything."

Shiro was a freaking godsend.

After training, Lance spotted Keith hanging behind the others fooling around with his beyard. Pidge's suggestion of flirting popped into his mind and Lance wondered if now was a good time. He was alone...no one else would bother him...

"Hey Keith," Lance called, his face burning and his heart pounding. Christ he was actually going to do it. He was going to hit on Keith.

"What?" the Paladin asked, his focus remaining on his beyard.

"Looking hot."

Lance about fucking sputtered. He'd completely drawn a blank on which pickup line to use, and he'd just blurted out the first thing that came to mind.

Keith turned around, his eyes wide in either disbelief or anger, it was hard to tell the difference. Lance felt like he was dying inside. _Fucking genius_ , he applauded himself sarcastically.

Having no clue where to go, and not even wanting to make up for his mistake, Lance just beelined for the hallway and headed back to his room. He locked himself inside and didn't come out for the rest of the day, or that night, or the following morning.

There was a loud banging on his door and Lance flew up out of bed, his blankets wrapped around him. He hit is head on the top of the bed, and he quickly removed his eye mask and made his way to the door. It hissed open to reveal Pidge and Hunk. Pidge was chuckling.

"Hey Lance, looking hot."

He shut the door and retreated to his bed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> AHA CATCH MY 80S VOLTRON REFERENCE?
> 
> Okay I wrote this in class instead of studying for finals next week. Have fun procrastinating with me.


	9. Nine

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keith confronts Lance about that horrible pickup line.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm impatient and I just want them to date already.
> 
> Mentions of Sheith bc why tf not. I don't really ship it but I mean. Why tf not amirite?

Keith was taken aback to put it lightly.

What the hell did Lance mean when he’d said, ‘looking hot?’

“He was flirting,” Shiro laughed.

“Doubtful.”

“Remember when we were going out. You were so dense – it took you months to realize I was even flirting.”

“That was different!” Keith protested. “I was younger-“

“And just as oblivious.”

Keith narrowed his eyes and Shiro crossed his arms in annoyance. What the hell did Shiro know? Nothing. He didn’t know jack-shit about Lance. Then again, he had been the one talking to Lance before he’d made the comment…

“What did you guys talk about?”

“Does it matter?” Of course Shiro deflected. What had Keith been expecting?

_Yes,_ he thought mentally. _If he was flirting then of course it matters_.

“Talk to him,” Shiro offered when he saw Keith stewing. “I’ve gotta go. Allura-“

“You sure have gotten close with the princess,” Keith smirked. Shiro froze and Keith was relieved he’d been able to draw some attention away from himself. “Something going on with you guys?”

“No. What makes you say that?”

There he was avoiding Keith’s questions again.

“You call her ‘Allura’. The rest of us – aside from Lance, call her ‘princess’.”

“Nothing’s changed.” Keith knew he was lying though. Shiro never made eye contact when he lied. “Anyway, I have to go,” he started off before adding, “and talk to Lance.”

Talking to Lance was going to be harder than Shiro made it sound. Keith had a painfully obvious crush on Lance, which nearly everyone knew about even though they didn’t say anything. What if Lance already knew? Maybe he’d just been trying to be nice and realized that Keith might interpret it wrong. Maybe that was why he’d left in a fluster. What if Lance was so worried Keith would think there was an underlying meaning there, that he’d holed himself up in his room and was trying to avoid him?  
Then there was also the possibility of it actually meaning something. It was a thought that Keith admitted was nice to entertain, but he could never hope for too much. Lance acted straight as an arrow.

He’d heard Pidge and Hunk talking about how Lance had shut his door in their faces, but Pidge had been laughing so Keith was guessing Pidge had done something to provoke him. That or Lance was in a horrible mood.

Keith didn’t really want to talk to Lance just yet, but if Shiro thought it was for the best then maybe it was. Shiro had good intuition. That was why he was the leader.

So Keith straightened himself, sucked in a deep breath, and knocked on Lance’s door.

A minute later and there was nothing but silence; zero indication that Lance had heard him or had any intention of answering, so Keith knocked again. And again. And again until Lance opened the door and glowered at him.

“Uh…hi…” 

Registering who was at his door, Lance’s eyes grew wide and he stood up straight. A blanket was wrapped tightly around him and Keith’s heart began to pound. If he was already having issues, imagine how the conversation was going to go.

Keith wanted to scream.

“Hi…” Lance answered, his eyes focused intently on him. Keith didn’t really register what he said. He was too busy fidgeting and couldn’t look Lance in the eye.

“What’s up?” Lance pressed.

“I…I wanted to talk to you.” Jeez, how hard was it to formulate sentences?

If Keith’s request worried Lance, it didn’t show. Instead, Lance invited Keith into his room. _Did this mean Lance didn’t know? If he did know, how was he comfortable with this?_ No. There was no way Lance didn’t know. Granted he hadn’t admitted his feelings outright to anyone aside from Shiro (and that was only because Shiro brought up the subject himself), but if Coran and Allura could pick up on how he felt, then surely Lance could too. He was smarter than he was given credit for.

It was awkward, the two of them just standing there. Lance kept looking at Keith like he was searching for something and Keith just swung his arms and looked around the room. _Ah the memories_. He didn’t really want to be reminded of kissing a certain Paladin right at the moment, but there the memory was on repeat at the forefront of his mind.

“I’m sorry. About yesterday,” Lance was the first to speak. “If I made you uncomfortable or mad, I didn’t mean to.”

“No, you didn’t. I guess I was just a little confused.”

There. He’d pretty much put it out there that he’d taken it as flirting, even though his mind was telling him that wasn’t the case.

“What do you mean?”

_Are you serious_? Why did he have to explain himself? Was there a way he could ask if Lance had been flirting without making his crush painfully obvious? Apparently, Lance was dumber than he’d given him credit for.

“Wait-“ Lance flushed, catching on. “Did you think I was flirting?”

Keith just nodded.

“Are you mad?”

“I mean – no. Not really. You didn’t mean it, right?”

Silence.

As the silence stretched on, Keith’s heart starting picking up the pace. Why wasn’t he denying it? Had he actually been..? 

No matter what, Keith’s brain could not let him believe Lance had been flirting. 

“If you were flirting, that was a pretty shitty pickup line.”

_Fucking end me_. Why did he always do this? He got frustrated with himself and took it out on other people. Every time he felt cornered, unsure, or anything really, his immediate go to was some quippy remark. He didn’t mean to be like that, and he’d been labeled a dick because of it, but he couldn’t help it. He had no idea how to communicate or let people in. It was his defense system. It was his way of showing that he wasn’t let down or disappointed or bothered.

Keith had never wished he could be nice to anyone and he’d never thought he’d wish it would turn off for Lance, but here he was: wishing he was actually a decent human being.

“Yeah, I guess it was pretty bad, huh?”

Lance just started laughing. Keith stared. He was even more confused than he’d been before because Lance _wasn’t denying it_ , he wasn’t even throwing sass back at Keith. He had no idea what to do and Lance noticed for his laughter died down and his face paled slightly.

“Are you sure you’re not mad?”

Keith’s brain wasn’t processing.

“Keith??”

His heart wasn’t beating.

“Hello?”

He snapped out of his stupor.

Lance had been flirting.

He had made no move to deny it. No, he hadn’t outright confessed to flirting, but if it meant nothing, he would have said so. Lance was blunt.

He’d _actually_ been flirting with Keith.

“Holy shit,” was all Keith could manage. “You were actually flirting with me?” His voice was shrill in disbelief and Lance visibly blushed. Keith could not breathe.

“A little bit.”

_There! There it was! He’d admitted it! Haha brain! You were wrong!_

Keith couldn’t figure out if he wanted to cry, laugh, scream, or all of the above.

“I understand if you’re uncomfortable with it. I won’t do it if-“

“I think you’re pretty hot too!”

The words were out of Keith’s mouth before he’d processed them. His heart was racing and he was growing dizzy. Was he breathing? _No. Inhale. Now exhale. Close your eyes and just chill for a minute_.

“Of course you think so. I’m irresistible~”

Keith opened his eyes and saw the shit smiling proudly. Even though it made his heart flutter, Keith still wanted to punch Lance in that perfect face of his. Instead, Keith opted to leave. He spun on his heel and headed towards the door (a little more dramatically than he’d intended). As he neared the door, Lance grabbed his wrist and stopped him. Keith’s face ran hot.

“So, uh, we good?” Lance asked, shyer than Keith thought he had the capacity for.

“Yeah,” he smiled, unable to say much else. 

Lance didn’t ask for anything more and Keith wasn’t about to push anything. For now, just knowing Lance had been flirting with him was enough.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Everyone thinks this is funny but like...literally I'm just writing shit and throwing it out there.


	10. Chapter 10

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst is now never ending.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you were enjoying this fic for the fluff, beware: I've had a plot in mind ever since I started writing and now we're getting into it. Stuff is going to happen. Characters are going to hurt. No one is going to die, I would've put a warning up if that was the case, but things will start getting pretty serious. I'll do my best to throw up any warnings before chapters if I feel they're necessary. If you think I need to add a warning, hmu in the comments and I'll do that.

Things with Voltron had gotten better since Lance and Keith had straightened things out. Lance had stopped being such an airhead (for the most part. He would never be perfect) and the negative tension between the two Paladins was at an all-time low. 

Anymore, Lance found himself spending time with Keith where he normally would’ve Pidge or Hunk. They weren’t dating, even though Lance refused to deny that that’s something he wanted, but they were flirting which was downright euphoric.

Their rivalry was still strong, maybe stronger depending on how one looked at it, but it no longer came from a place of spite. It hadn’t for a long time, but any remaining bitterness had dissolved. The competitiveness now came from a need to get the other flustered. Lance found it adorable whenever Keith got mad, even if he did pretend that he himself was annoyed, but the best was when Keith got so flustered, he couldn’t even speak.

So Lance turned the flirting _way_ up.

Whenever he won something, he’d hang it over Keith’s head and say something flirty – and he made sure it wasn’t just some cheesy pickup line. No, this was full out, ‘I won and I’m going to get in your face so that our lips are inches apart and you can feel my breath on your skin’. Lance loved every minute of it.

Lately, the two had discovered that they enjoyed exploring the castle. The place was huge, and there were so many rooms that went undisturbed that it gave them something to do. It also gave them a reprieve from everyone else. Not that they were annoying, it was just nice to decompress.

The best part about exploring the castle, though, was the fact it gave them something new to do. They’d been floating around in space for a couple of weeks since the incident with Zarkon and things were starting to get pretty bland. They’d only encountered Zarkon’s forces a couple of times, and they were just measly cargo ships. Lance didn’t want to go and fight per say, he just wanted to hurry things up and go home. 

“Hey, Lance!” Keith called from down the hallway. “Check this out!”

The pair had been scouring the west end of the castle for a couple of days now. So far they’d come across small rooms that looked as though they could’ve housed people. If Lance had to make a guess, staff members might’ve stayed there or something to that effect.

Keith had found a room that looked sort of like a study. Unlike the other rooms they’d seen, it wasn’t bare. There were cases lined along the walls that contained what Lance assumed were books. They floated, however, a dim blue light emanating from the shelves. It was cool. Very space aesthetic.

While Keith looked around, Lance thumbed through the books. He knew he wasn’t going to be able to read any of it; he could barely read the dash on Blue until Coran had somehow managed to refigure it for him, but he was interested to see how Altean books differed from Earth’s. 

He pulled a random one off of a shelf and a bit of dust went flying. The book wasn’t heavy or thick. In fact, none of them were. They looked like they were all the same size.

They were digital.

Lance about shit himself. You’d think he wouldn’t be so excited over a space kindle, but boy oh boy was he excited.

“Keith come’here!”

The Paladin padded over to Lance who had a big, dorky grin on his face. Lance noted Keith’s faint blush and filed that information away for later.

“You can’t even read it,” Keith deadpanned, but Lance wasn’t going to let him put a damper on his spirits.

“So? It’s still cool!”

Keith rolled his eyes, the blush on his cheeks still present. _God I just want to kiss him_. Lance mentally berated himself for thinking about that. There was no room for such thoughts, not yet. They weren’t even dating.

Lance scrolled through the Altean text like a child who’d been thrown in a ball pit before putting the slate back on the shelf and picking up another. He did this a few more times as Keith just watched him, probably confused, but Lance didn’t care. 

“I’m going to see if Allura can get these translated,” Lance said. “It’ll give us something to do.”

“What if they’re just boring records or something?”

“You need to stop being such a downer dude!” Lance chastised. “Even if that is the case, it’ll still be something to _do_.” Lance put a bit of an innuendo on the last word, but Keith didn’t seem to pick up on it. He just rolled his eyes.

“I didn’t know you were into books.”

“I’m just full of surprises,” Lance spun and threw a wink at Keith and the Paladin blushed and averted his eyes.

“Why do you keep doing that?”

“Doing what?” Lance asked innocently, pressing nearer to Keith.

“That,” he gestured.

“Oh. You mean flirting?” Keith was shuffling backward and Lance smirked as he drew nearer. “Because I enjoy it.”

Keith looked Lance in the eye then, not to warn him, but it caught Lance off guard. They were close. Not close enough to kiss, but close enough that Lance could hear how Keith’s breath hitched. 

“Don’t you like it?” Lance’s voice was dripping with as much sexiness as he could pump into it. He lowered his lips into a small pout. He wanted Keith to say something. To bite back. To challenge him and play the game.

“Lance…” his voice was low, unsure. This was the most Lance had ever pushed. His mind was telling him to stop, but unless Keith asked him to back off, he didn’t think he could, not with the way Keith was looking at him.

“Do you want me to stop?” he asked, not moving any closer to Keith than he already was.

It was quiet. Keith didn’t respond right away and Lance didn’t move a muscle as he waited and watched Keith. He would respect whatever the answer was, even if one of them would make him happier than the other. It seemed as though Keith was getting ready to say ‘no’, but of course, if Lance was getting this close to scoring, the universe couldn’t let that happen.

“Paladins,” Allura’s voice came over the intercom and was audibly shaken, “you need to come to the main deck. _Now_.”

Both Keith and Lance’s stomachs dropped.

Everyone was on the deck within a matter of minutes. No one said a word, instead, they waited until Allura gathered enough strength to speak. Obviously, something was wrong and Lance had a horrible feeling settling deep in his gut.

Shiro went to Allura and placed a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, tears threatening to break through her usually composed exterior. Lance could see Shiro’s face go white and his blood ran cold. If the princess was this distraught…

“Zarkon’s forces…” she started, Shiro and Coran both doing their best to help her piece together her sentences. “We placed a tracker on their main ship during the encounter which separated us…” She looked to Coran then, silently asking him to speak for her.

He sighed, he was falling apart too it seemed. “From what we can gather, Zarkon’s been building regrouping his fleets. That’s why things have been so quiet out here lately. He’s pulling his forces together.”

“What does that mean?” Hunk asked, his eyes searching everyone’s faces in a furry. “Are they coming to attack us? Can’t we just, I don’t know, hide out somewhere till we’re ready to fight them?”

Coran shook his head. “They aren’t coming towards us. It’s the opposite actually, they’re going away from us.” 

“Zarkon is headed towards Earth,” Allura interjected, some of her strength regained. She wasn’t going to waste any more time.

The floor beneath Lance started to crumble. There was no way Earth would be able to stave off a Galra war fleet for long, especially not if it was Zarkon’s main fleet. His body went numb and he barely registered Keith’s hand squeezing his own. He knew the Paladin was trying to ground him. Perhaps if the situation weren’t so dire he would’ve appreciated the gesture, but right now it wasn’t exactly welcomed. He didn’t move his hand away from Keith’s though. He was frozen in place while the gears turned in his head. The more and more he thought about the implications of what Allura had said, the more his blood boiled.

Zarkon was trying to lure them out. He was attacking their home because he knew there was no way they’d just let him take it without a fight. If they stayed where they were, Earth would fall. His friends, his family, they’d all be enslaved like the others Voltron had rescued. But what if Zarkon did more than just enslave them? Earth kept detailed records – surely he’d be able to find out who was piloting the lions. If he figured that much out and he targeted those related to them…

There was no way Lance was going to let Zarkon hurt anyone he loved.

“What do we do?” Hunk’s voice shook and he was holding his arms close to his body. He looked like he was going to cry. Pidge placed a hand on his back to comfort him and he let out a small, appreciative smile.

“We fight,” Lance stated plainly.

“No,” Keith argued. “We can’t do that.”

Lance had been angry with Keith plenty of times, but that was nothing compared to now. How could he say something like that? Did he not understand what would happen if they didn’t act soon?

Keith’s proposal earned a few confused looks and Lance body yearned to know why Keith said what he’d said, but Allura was the one to question him. 

“Because we aren’t ready. We’re just now getting back into working order and you all said it yourself; he’s grouping his army together. We barely escaped last time and that wasn’t even his entire fleet. If we fight now, not only will we lose Voltron, but Earth as well.”

Lance couldn’t argue with Keith’s reasoning, even if the situation was ironic. Usually, Lance was the one telling Keith to cool down and not just run in guns blasting. Usually, he came up with some sort of plan. But this wasn’t like anything else they’d experienced.

“I know we’d lose Earth if we sit back, but we can always overthrow Zarkon when we’re ready.”

“But what about what happens while we sit back, huh?” Lance retorted. “What about everyone who’s going to die within that time?”

“What about everyone who’s going to die when Zarkon captures Voltron?” Keith’s voice rose and Lance’s eyes narrowed. He ripped his hand free from Keith’s and both Paladins stumbled backward.

It took everything Lance had to not say what he was thinking, which was the worst thing he could ever say to Keith, but Keith wouldn’t stop. He continued on about how it was dangerous and Lance couldn’t think straight.

“You know what Keith?” he started as he lumbered towards the Paladin. “Maybe if you had a family, you’d understand.”

He couldn’t even regret it. Not when Keith’s fist went sailing into his nose. Not when Keith stormed off. Not when he realized his nose was bleeding. Not even when everyone was gawking at him, shaking their heads in disapproval. They didn’t know. They didn’t understand. Keith didn’t understand. He never would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> What did I tell you? Angst.
> 
> Also, YES LANCE WAS AN ASS. CHILL. LANCE IS WORRIED FOR HIS FAMILY. HIS ACTIONS AREN'T OKAY BUT I DON'T THINK IT'S OUT OF CHARACTER. HE'S A SCARED BEAN. - I wasn't yelling, I was just emphasizing.
> 
> Thank you all for the comments you've left on this fic! Seeing comments in my inbox really motivate me to keep writing <3


	11. Eleven

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The angst is resolved but they still have that one thing looming over their heads.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> My summaries are trash, but I'm trash too so I guess it's okay.  
> I have stopped revising my stuff so if anything is awkward, just drop a comment or something.

Keith knew how to throw a punch that much was for sure. Lance knew the Paladin had broken it, he’d heard the crack and it was bleeding profusely, but in his fury, he hadn’t felt the pain. As his adrenaline died down and the bleeding didn’t stop, Allura and Coran had both ushered him to a pod so they could run some tests. Lance noted how Shiro cast him a disapproving gaze before turning and heading out the way Keith had gone. 

He’d been pissed. Who wouldn’t be though, right? Not to mention that if his nose was anything like his father’s, it would remain swollen for the rest of his life. Keith had probably just fucked up his face for good.

The only good thing was that his nasal bone hadn’t shattered so there was no need to worry about any fragments poking at his brain. Allura just simply shoved his nose back into place (he yelped like a girl which earned him a roll of the eyes) and given him some ice. Once she was sure Lance was going to be alright, she turned without saying a word and followed out after Shiro. The only one that stayed with him was Coran, and even he didn’t say much so Lance just decided he would head to his room and mope around.

Who needed them anyway? They were taking Keith’s side simply because Lance had hit a nerve. They didn’t care about how he was freaking out, how he was so scared for his family that just the thought of leaving them to fend for themselves made him want to curl up and cry. His family was the most important thing in the universe to him and Keith had suggested they abandon them. That was not something Lance could ever do. If Allura decided they’d sit back and wait it out, Lance would take Blue and go fight the Galra himself. The least he could do was try.

“Stupid Keith,” Lance muttered to himself as he stared up at his ceiling. He’d never really looked around his room before, there was nothing interesting about his room. It was the same as all of the other Paladins. The only difference? His came in blue.

He found his mind wandering off, curious about the previous Paladins who had stayed in this room before him. Thinking about that gave him a distraction, it let him feel less alone. He wasn’t just in some random room, but he was in a place full of memories. _What would they have done? _he pondered. Was he the same as them? Would they agree with him? Or was he wrong? Was he letting his love for his family cloud his duties as a Paladin of Voltron?__

___No _, he thought pointedly. His love for his family was his drive; it was getting him through the war against the Galra. Everything he did he did for them. There was no weakness in that, there was no way.__ _ _

____The Galra wouldn’t hesitate to sacrifice their own if they knew it would let them win, but that was where humans and the Galra differed. Humans would do anything in their power to protect the ones that they loved, even if they risked losing everything. The Galra would misinterpret this sentiment as weakness when in reality it was strength. They would lose this war because they had no sense of loyalty – compassion. Lance had never been more sure of anything in his life._ _ _ _

____Hoisting himself up out of bed, he went over to the mirror that hovered over his dresser and analyzed his reflection. His left eye was starting to turn purple and blood crusted around his nostrils. Keith really did a number on him._ _ _ _

____Lance heard what he thought was yelling from outside his door then. He was quiet as he made his way over to the door, ensuring that it wouldn’t open and reveal him. He couldn’t really make out what was being said, but he recognized Keith’s voice immediately. The other voice sounded like Shiro, although Lance wasn’t completely sure._ _ _ _

____"He’s the one that screwed things up!" his voice was muffled but Lance could make out every word. And people thought he was the loud one._ _ _ _

____Shiro said something and Lance could practically hear Keith snort. "As if, Shiro. I wouldn’t feel anything for that dickwad even if he fucking apologized! If he wants to be an ass, then fine. See if I care.”_ _ _ _

____Lance figured Keith had holed himself up in his room because Shiro called after him and there was no response. Lance didn’t quite understand what all of that was about, but he’d never heard Keith so angry. It was frightening if Lance had to admit it._ _ _ _

____"Shiro," Lance heard Allura’s cool voice and he ripped his ear from the door. This was no longer about him, and even if it was it wasn’t like it was his place to listen in._ _ _ _

____Keith didn’t care anymore. It wasn’t like Lance could blame him, he’d said the worst thing he possibly could, but despite the pain he felt in his chest, Lance told himself that he didn’t care about Keith anymore either. They had never worked and what had happened between them was just a fluke._ _ _ _

____They were rivals – enemies. They could never be friends or anything more than that._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____****_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____The stars always had a way of calming Lance down. As a child, whenever he’d been upset or frustrated, he’d go outside with his older brother, sprawl out in the grass, and together they’d look up at the stars. Even though Lance was nowhere near his home planet and the constellations weren’t those he’d grown up with, it was a comfort; a reminder that his family was out there and all he was doing was worth it._ _ _ _

____He’d been on the bridge for a while now. Coran had come and gone a few times, but the ship was on autopilot and he was left to his own devices. Lance couldn’t say he minded. Sometimes he needed a reprieve from everything._ _ _ _

____“Here,” came Allura’s voice as she handed Lance a drink. He about jumped out of his skin._ _ _ _

____“Holy quiznak!” Lance hissed beneath his breath._ _ _ _

____“I’m sorry to frighten you. I thought you’d hear me enter.”_ _ _ _

____Lance blushed and took the drink from her hands. “What is it?”_ _ _ _

____“Medicine. It’ll help with the pain,” she explained as she gestured to his nose. “How are you feeling?”_ _ _ _

____“My nose still hurts and I’ve had a massive migraine for a while now. I should be okay, though. Thank you.”_ _ _ _

____As Lance drank the medicine eagerly (it tasted horrible but he’d drink anything to dull the pain at this point), Allura stood beside him, looking out at the stars. The lights of a distant star illuminated the princess in a golden hue, her hair sparkling radiantly. Moments like this made her look like a true princess – no, more than that. It made her look like a queen._ _ _ _

____“Lance,” she started, her tone serious, “you need to apologize to Keith.”_ _ _ _

____Lance rolled his eyes. He’d known he was going to get chewed out for some time now, he’d just figured it would have been Shiro telling him to pull himself together, not the Princess._ _ _ _

____“You don’t understand,” Lance said as he stared off into space. “I can’t leave them.”_ _ _ _

____“You aren’t leaving them,” Allura came to stand before Lance. Whenever he tried to avert his eyes, she followed him, not letting him escape from the conversation. She sighed suddenly, realizing just how pointless her antics were._ _ _ _

____“Listen Lance. I know exactly what you’re feeling.”_ _ _ _

____He met her eyes then, struck by the fact she had the audacity to say something like that. What did she know? She didn’t know anything about Lance, his family, or humans really._ _ _ _

____"Oh really?" Lance didn't care if she was a princess suddenly. "Are you going to sit there and tell me that Keith didn't deserve that? He wants to abandon everyone back on Earth. He-"_ _ _ _

____Allura cut him off, the look in her eye frustrated and terrifying._ _ _ _

____“I watched my family – my entire species – be obliterated by Zarkon. I know what you’re feeling because I’ve lived through the very thing that scares you most.”_ _ _ _

____Lance just stood there. He'd completely forgotten all about what she'd experienced yet here he was, being a complete asshole._ _ _ _

____“I need you to have more faith in me and your fellow Paladins, Lance. None of us want anything to happen to Earth or its people. We’re all trying our best to do what we think is right. I know that’s what you were trying to do, but that doesn’t make your actions any less brutish. Keith is human too. He doesn’t want his home destroyed and for you to bring up something so personal in such a sensitive moment…_ _ _ _

____“I will never make you, or anyone else here, sit back and watch their home be destroyed. I know all too well what that feels like. Trust me, please,” she placed a hand on his shoulder gingerly. Her eyes were filled with so much sadness, so much pain, that Lance seemed to abandon his pride (which was something he rarely did) and regret everything he'd said, both to the Princess and Keith. She reminded him of his mother then, highlighting all the things he'd done wrong for him and telling him to pull himself together. If Shiro had been the one to approach him, Lance didn't think there would've been as great of an effect._ _ _ _

____“I’m sorry,” his voice cracked and normally he would’ve been embarrassed to let his composure go, especially in the audience of Allura, but he found he didn’t care this time._ _ _ _

____“If you need anything, just ask,” she finished as she squeezed his shoulder. “Now, go apologize to Keith before it’s too late. Harboring any negative feelings towards one another with such an important battle approaching won’t help your family.”_ _ _ _

____She went to leave but Lance stopped her, “Princess, do you think that after this is all over, you could translate some books for me?”_ _ _ _

____The request was odd given the recent exchange, but she smiled warmly. “Of course.”_ _ _ _

____After she was gone, Lance went to go find Keith._ _ _ _

____ _ _

____****_ _ _ _

____ _ _

____Hunk told Lance that Keith was on the training deck. Lance couldn’t say he was surprised. Keith always needed to punch something when he was angry (hopefully he wouldn’t be punching Lance again)._ _ _ _

____When Lance made his way to the training room, Keith was leaning back against a wall, his chest heaving and his shirt clinging to him from sweat. He heard Lance entered and eyed him skeptically, but he didn’t move and he didn’t question._ _ _ _

____“I’m sorry,” Lance started. He was no good at apologies and Keith didn’t make things much easier when he just stared at him. “I’m an asshole.”_ _ _ _

____Keith rolled his eyes and picked up his water before taking a swig and washing it around in his mouth._ _ _ _

____“I’ve never been good at this, but I’m trying here man.”_ _ _ _

____He looked at Lance but still didn’t say a word. Lance was getting annoyed but he tried his best not to let it show. Getting angry and hulking out was Keith’s thing, not his._ _ _ _

____“You trusted me with some personal stuff and I said something really shitty that I should never have said. I get if you hate me, but we have to work together if we want to save Earth.”_ _ _ _

____Lance had no idea if anything he was saying was doing any good because Keith’s expression never changed, his body never moved. He showed no indication that he was even listening to Lance. Maybe he was ignoring him and he was just wasting his breath._ _ _ _

____“Again, I’m sorry and I hope that you can forgive me. If I could make it up to you I would. Sorry to bug you. Bye.”_ _ _ _

____Lance turned on his heel and exited. What had Allura been thinking? Keith wasn’t going to accept his apology. Lance had crossed a line that there was no coming back from. Lance didn’t think Keith was dumb enough to accept an apology from such an asshole, but still, a hand closed around his wrist and he spun around to face Keith._ _ _ _

____“You want to make it up to me?”_ _ _ _

____“Yeah. More than anything.”_ _ _ _

____“Then, let me try something.” Keith’s eyes flickered down nervously but they were back on Lance in an instant. “If you don’t like it, tell me.”_ _ _ _

____Lance nodded, unknowing of what he was agreeing to. But if it would help ease Keith’s anger, then he didn’t care – even if it meant punching him like he did his punching bags._ _ _ _

____What Keith did wasn’t punch him. At first, Lance had no idea what it was. His mind couldn’t process what was happening because it didn’t fit what was going on. Someone you hurt like that…they surely would never act like this…_ _ _ _

____One of Keith’s hands rested in Lance’s, their fingers intertwined. His other hand held Lance’s back tightly. Lance hugged Keith back after a figuring out what was happening. Keith was holding Lance and crying into his chest. He had completely let himself go, let his feelings spill out. He was _trusting_ Lance even though he’d done everything he possibly could to destroy such trust. Lance didn’t understand. But at the same time, he didn’t care. He held Keith to his chest and thanked whatever god there was above that Keith had forgiven him; that things were going to be okay._ _ _ _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> You thought they were going to kiss, didn't you? Heh. I hate myself too don't worry.

**Author's Note:**

> I might continue this but I'm not really sure??? If I did I would probably involve some stuff that happens at the end of the last episode. I've got some ideas but I'm not really sure if I wanna go through with it XD


End file.
